Anthropic's push toward a public listing has put a staggering number on the cost of the AI race. The company's net loss widened to $80.7 billion in the first half of 2026, largely because of an accounting charge, according to a draft prospectus for its planned initial public offering reviewed by Reuters.
The bulk of the loss — a $72 billion charge — is not cash spent on operations. It reflects the rising estimated value of bonds that could eventually convert into Anthropic shares: as the company's private valuation climbs, the accounting value of that future dilution climbs with it. A similar charge drove most of the $42 billion loss Reuters reported for 2025.
The operating picture is one of enormous, accelerating spending. Anthropic spent close to $9 billion on computing capacity and infrastructure in the first half of 2026, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier, and has pledged as much as $518 billion on cloud services, computing and infrastructure over the next decade, the prospectus said.
Revenue is racing to keep up. At an investor meeting this month, the company said third-quarter revenue surged 45 per cent from the prior quarter to $16.8 billion, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Even so, some investors are now weighing a lower IPO valuation of around $1.2 trillion in light of the disclosures, the report said.
The company is expected to go public next month. The filings spotlight a question hanging over the whole sector: whether revenue growth can eventually outrun the unprecedented sums being poured into data centres and chips.
