SAN FRANCISCO — Nvidia is considering investing as much as $10 billion in Anthropic’s planned initial public offering, potentially giving the AI chip giant a major stake in one of the most closely watched technology listings in history.
The discussions, first reported by Reuters and carried by Channel NewsAsia, are still ongoing and could change. Nvidia is being considered as an anchor investor for the offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Anthropic is reportedly seeking to raise as much as $100 billion, a figure that could place the artificial intelligence company at a valuation of roughly $2 trillion.
If those numbers materialize, the offering could become the largest IPO ever attempted, dramatically underscoring how much investors are willing to bet on the future of generative AI.
Nvidia and Anthropic’s relationship gets even deeper
The potential investment would further tighten the relationship between Nvidia and Anthropic.
Nvidia is the dominant supplier of high-end AI processors used to train and operate advanced models, while Anthropic is one of the leading developers of generative AI, best known for its Claude family of models.
Anthropic, however, is not relying exclusively on Nvidia. The company has been building a diversified computing strategy involving Amazon Web Services, Google’s AI infrastructure and Nvidia GPUs, among other platforms. Anthropic itself says Claude runs across AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, using different AI hardware depending on workloads.
That makes the possible Nvidia investment particularly significant: the chipmaker could simultaneously benefit from the enormous demand for AI computing while strengthening its relationship with one of the industry’s fastest-growing AI customers.
From $380 billion to nearly $1 trillion—and potentially $2 trillion
Anthropic’s valuation has exploded in a matter of months.
In February, the company announced a $30 billion Series G funding round at a $380 billion post-money valuation.
By May, Anthropic announced another $65 billion funding round, bringing its post-money valuation to $965 billion. The company said its revenue run rate had already surpassed $47 billion at the time.
Now, the potential IPO could value the company at around $2 trillion—more than twice the valuation announced in May.
That dramatic increase illustrates both the explosive growth of the AI sector and the enormous expectations investors are placing on companies developing frontier AI systems.
Anthropic is betting on enormous future revenue
One of the biggest factors behind the potential valuation is Anthropic’s aggressive growth forecast.
According to earlier reporting by Reuters and Channel NewsAsia, Anthropic is projecting 2028 revenue of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion. That would represent an extraordinary jump from its $47 billion annualized revenue pace reported in May.
The forecast is one reason investors are looking far beyond Anthropic’s current financial performance when assessing what the company could eventually be worth.
But it also means the IPO would place enormous expectations on Anthropic to continue expanding at an extraordinary pace.
IPO could come as early as October
Anthropic has been preparing for a public listing for months.
A September 4 report from Channel NewsAsia, citing Reuters, said the company was expected to begin marketing its IPO as early as mid-October, with the listing potentially taking place shortly before the November US midterm elections. The timing remains subject to change.
The company was also reportedly working on a $15 billion revolving credit facility as part of preparations for the offering.
Major investment banks including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Citi have been reported as being involved in preparations for the IPO.
The Nvidia investment highlights a bigger AI financing trend
Nvidia’s possible investment also comes amid a growing trend in which AI infrastructure companies and AI developers increasingly invest in one another.
The structure has attracted attention because chipmakers and infrastructure providers are often also major suppliers to the AI companies receiving the money.
Earlier this year, AMD agreed to sell Anthropic tens of billions of dollars’ worth of AI servers while also investing as much as $5 billion in the company.
Nvidia has likewise been involved in enormous AI infrastructure investments and strategic relationships with leading AI companies.
That has raised questions among investors about how much of the current AI boom is being driven by genuine end-user demand and how much is being amplified by enormous flows of capital among companies within the same ecosystem.
Why Nvidia’s potential $10 billion matters
For Anthropic, having Nvidia as an anchor investor could provide a powerful signal to other investors ahead of the IPO.
Anchor investors are typically large institutions that commit substantial capital early in an offering, potentially helping build confidence around a major listing.
For Nvidia, meanwhile, the move could reinforce its position at the center of the AI economy.
The company’s business depends heavily on continued spending on AI infrastructure. If Anthropic’s growth accelerates, its demand for computing power could also rise sharply.
But the arrangement also illustrates the extraordinary financial stakes surrounding the AI boom.
A company that was valued at $380 billion in February and $965 billion in May could potentially approach $2 trillion only months later.
That leaves investors facing the biggest question of all:
Can Anthropic’s real-world AI business grow fast enough to justify the enormous valuation the market is now being asked to accept?
For now, the Nvidia investment remains under discussion, not a completed deal, and Anthropic has yet to complete its public listing. The final fundraising amount, valuation, timing and investor lineup could all change before the IPO reaches the market.
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