Anthropic is preparing for an IPO: the main risk is not technology, but public distrust.
Ahead of one of the most anticipated initial public offerings in the technology sector, Anthropic intends to include a separate section dedicated to risk factors in its IPO prospectus. This is not about traditional market threats, but about a fundamental shift in public sentiment: growing distrust of artificial intelligence and active resistance to data center construction.
According to my information, the confidential filing was submitted back in June, followed by a series of closed-door meetings with bankers and potential investors in San Francisco. The public version of the document is expected to appear in the coming weeks, and it will become a critical indicator of how the company assesses its operating environment.
Investors are concerned not only about AI, but also about infrastructure
In the risk section, Anthropic plans to directly point to the intensification of "public resistance" to new data center projects. This is not just a formality — Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao has already held a series of meetings where issues of competitive pressure from open-source models and threats to margins were discussed. However, as surveys show, investors are no less concerned about the fate of the physical infrastructure on which revenue directly depends.
The logic is simple: without new computing capacity, scaling is impossible. Meanwhile, Anthropic's revenue growth rate is impressive — the annual run rate exceeded $65 billion in July, roughly $25 billion more than OpenAI. On the over-the-counter market, the company is already valued at nearly $1 trillion, and after the IPO, investors expect a market capitalization of $2 trillion, which would break SpaceX's record for the amount of funds raised.
The numbers point to a growing crisis of trust
The data I analyzed confirms the validity of such concerns. A Gallup poll conducted in March showed that 7 out of 10 Americans oppose the placement of AI data centers near their homes, with 48% strongly opposed. A more recent Heatmap Pro study, conducted August 8–13 among 2,045 registered voters, records even more alarming dynamics: 75% are now opposed, whereas a year ago that figure was only 42%.
This trend is not limited to local NIMBY protests. A Pew Research study shows that 71% of American adults expect job losses due to AI over the next 20 years — up from 64% in 2024. Politicians are already reacting: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order tightening requirements for data center construction, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a moratorium on issuing permits for new large-scale facilities.
My analysis: The market appears to be underestimating this factor. The $2 trillion valuation assumes unimpeded infrastructure growth, but the reality is that every new data center becomes a battleground. For investors, this means that operational risks are now directly tied to the social license to operate — and this could become the main challenge for the entire industry, not just for Anthropic.