What happened
Anthropic, the maker of Claude, officially filed to go public about a week before the midterm elections, with reported valuation expectations reaching as high as $2 trillion. A sharp post-election selloff has since upended that picture.
Market turmoil
Voters approved dozens of ballot measures opposing data center construction and backed candidates promising to hold Silicon Valley accountable, triggering panic on Wall Street. Thursday's selloff wiped out a record $2.3 trillion in market value. According to Bloomberg, some investors are now weighing bids that would value Anthropic as low as $1.1 trillion.
The company's dilemma
Anthropic faces two paths: aim for a massive valuation to signal strength to the market and risk a rough first week of trading, or open with a more conservative target and hope for growth. Delaying the IPO could hurt the valuation further, both financially and reputationally.
Political uncertainty
With Democrats set to take control of Congress in January, new legislation targeting AI and data center development is expected. President Trump's veto power until 2028 may offer companies some cover, but the election results point to growing regulatory pressure.
