Potential investors in Anthropic are raising doubts about whether the artificial intelligence company can press ahead with its planned stock market debut this month, after a brutal two-day sell-off in technology shares.
Four people familiar with investor discussions told Reuters that some prospective buyers are questioning whether the maker of the Claude chatbot can begin its roadshow — the series of meetings with investors that precedes a listing — next week in time for a November flotation. Investors are pushing for a more attractive valuation, with some viewing the recently discussed figure of $1.5 trillion as being at the high end of what they are willing to pay, the people said.
The roadshow had been expected to kick off in the week beginning 9 November, with pricing the following week. Anthropic declined to comment on the doubts, and the company has not publicly confirmed a date for its listing. The claims about investor sentiment therefore rest on unnamed sources and have not been confirmed by the company.
Anthropic may need to offer a bigger discount to secure commitments, the people said, particularly as investors weigh its record of quarterly losses against the huge sums it has committed to partners building out AI infrastructure. Investors are also waiting for the company’s October revenue figure, which was left blank in its updated prospectus, to judge whether growth has recovered after slowing in recent months.
The doubts follow the sharpest technology sell-off in a year. The Nasdaq fell 5 per cent on Thursday into correction territory, and technology shares have underperformed the S&P 500 by 10.7 per cent over the past month — the widest gap since May 2002. More than 50 technology stocks in the S&P 1500 fell by 10 per cent or more on Thursday alone, as investors reassessed the AI trade after the Democrats’ sweeping midterm victories and a string of ballot measures limiting data-centre development.
A decision to delay would be likely to fuel further concern about the health of the AI ecosystem. The offering is expected by some to reach $100 billion, and any sign that one of the highest-profile AI firms is struggling to raise funds would probably squeeze valuations across a stock market heavily weighted towards large technology companies.
It would also mark a sharp comedown from earlier in the year, when investors expected the listing to take place in October at a valuation as high as $2 trillion. Anthropic has substantial room to wait: it held $146.6 billion in cash at the end of September, according to its filings.
Not all investors are turning away. Some analysts expect the company, like SpaceX before it, to benefit from strong demand from retail investors, and many remain bullish on the AI buildout despite the recent selling. As one investor put it, these companies are going to become public, and investors will still have a lot of interest in them — even if valuations that have risen for a long time in the private market now face a pullback.
Sources: Reuters, “Will AI backlash delay Anthropic IPO? Investors raise doubts”, 6 November 2026 (https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/will-ai-backlash-delay-anthropic-ipo-investors-raise-doubts/article71672682.ece/amp/). The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday evening that IPO investors are sceptical Anthropic can achieve a $1.5 trillion valuation in a public listing.
