Investors disturbed by Anthropic financial data

When your company prepares for one of the hottest IPOs in the history of the stock market, you better believe that investors and outside experts will be examining your finances with a fine-tooth comb.

This is the situation that AI laboratory Anthropic finds itself in as its highly anticipated public offering approaches. Earlier this week, the The Wall Street Journal reported that Anthropic told private investors that its revenues rose 45 percent to nearly $17 billion. This news came nearly a month after news that the AI ​​company was boasting to investors that it was profitable — but only if you used a special accounting method that removed most of its expenses.

Yet as investors immediately noticed, that $17 billion in revenue is just a drop in the bucket compared to the kind of growth needed to maintain the company’s projected valuation at $2 trillion. As Business Insider According to the note, Anthropic’s third-quarter revenue may look incredible on paper, but it falls well short of the growth needed to justify its 13-figure target.

“Not good enough,” a social media account belonging to market research blog Geiger Capital commented in a post. “It’s over.”

“Anyone remember?” ” posted AI researcher and critic Gary Marcus, alongside a screenshot of a headline stating that Anthropic would need revenues of around $190 billion to $200 billion by 2028 to justify its valuation. “They won’t come near it.”