Anthropic Files S-1 Prospectus: Revenue Grew About 400-Fold in Two and a Half Years, Net Loss of $80.748 Billion in the First Half

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The founding team holds 50.1% of the voting rights through Class F common stock. This design is intended to keep corporate governance balanced between shareholder interests and "AI safety"—which also means that, after listing, public shareholders will have limited actual control over the company.

On October 26, the well-known AI model company Anthropic officially submitted an S-1 prospectus to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), initiating the listing process. The prospectus did not disclose the issue price, number of shares to be issued, or the scale of fundraising; the proceeds will be used for computing power and infrastructure investment, recruiting and retaining talent, and other purposes.

The prospectus shows that this company, known for the Claude model, had revenue of $16.286 billion in the first half of 2026, with a book net loss of $80.748 billion during the same period. Image source: screenshot of Anthropic's prospectus

But the quality of the massive "loss" is worth examining separately.

In fact, excluding non-cash items such as convertible notes, Anthropic's true operating loss is not bad: in the first half of 2026, its operating loss was $693 million, narrowing by about 68% from $2.135 billion in the same period of 2025. And in just two and a half years, its revenue scale expanded by about 400 times.

Revenue scale expanded about 400 times in two and a half years, with token consumption contributing about 80% of revenue

The prospectus shows that Anthropic's revenue has grown explosively, with revenue of $41 million, $386 million, $4.585 billion, and $16.286 billion in 2023, 2024, 2025, and the first half of 2026, respectively.

From $41 million for the full year of 2023 to $16.286 billion in just the first half of 2026, Anthropic's revenue scale expanded by about 400 times in only two and a half years.

In terms of revenue structure, "consumption-based" revenue billed by token (the smallest output unit of the model) accounts for about 80%, contributing $13.1 billion in the first half of 2026; subscription-based revenue was $3.2 billion, accounting for about 20%.

The prospectus states that "the Claude model is the fastest-adopted technology by enterprises in human history." Supporting this claim is customer data—the number of Anthropic customers with annualized revenue exceeding $100,000 increased from more than 950 in September 2025 to 11,900 within a year; the number of customers with annualized revenue exceeding $1 million reached more than 1,900.

Over $80.7 billion loss, the vast majority is "paper loss"

The net loss of $80.748 billion for the half-year is the most eye-catching and also the most easily misunderstood figure in this prospectus.

In fact, about $72.4 billion of it comes from "changes in the fair value of convertible notes, derivative liabilities, and SAFE (simple agreements for future equity) agreements." The reason is that Amazon purchased Anthropic's convertible notes in September 2023 and November 2024. As the company's valuation rose, the fair value of these convertible notes increased accordingly, and accounting rules require recognition of an equivalent loss.

Excluding these non-cash items, Anthropic's true operating loss is not bad: in the first half of 2026, its operating loss was $693 million, narrowing by about 68% from $2.135 billion in the same period of 2025.

The real money is spent on computing power. In the first half of 2026, computing power and infrastructure expenditure was $8.945 billion, the largest cost item; personnel expenses were $3.152 billion.

Cumulative financing of $141.1 billion, cloud vendors are "both rivals and friends"

In contrast to the huge losses, Anthropic's financial foundation is quite solid.

As of June 30, 2026, Anthropic had cumulative financing of $141.1 billion, cash and cash equivalents of $112.4 billion on its books, and short-term investments of $19.3 billion.

It is worth noting that Anthropic and cloud vendors are both channel partners and competitors.

The Claude model is distributed through three major cloud vendors: Amazon's AWS, Google's Google Cloud, and Microsoft's Azure. In the first half of 2026, about 48% of Anthropic's revenue came from these channels.

In addition, Amazon is also the largest holder of convertible notes, and Google and Microsoft also hold equity investments.

But the prospectus also points out risks: these three cloud vendors each develop competing large models, and are "both channels and rivals," so their strategic interests may not align with Anthropic's.

In terms of governance structure, Anthropic is a "Public Benefit Corporation" with a five-tier equity structure. The founding team holds 50.1% of the voting rights through Class F common stock. This design is intended to keep corporate governance balanced between shareholder interests and "AI safety"—which also means that, after listing, public shareholders will have limited actual control over the company. Statement: Exclusive article from Sina.com, unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. tech_web_article_v2015_block_bottom Non-targeted 300*250 button 17/09 wenjing begin

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