Anthropic flags revenue surge to investors ahead of stock market debut

Key points

• Anthropic's revenue rose 45% to $16.8bn in the three months to the end of September.
• The company told prospective investors it had made a profit for the second quarter in a row.
• Tech stocks fell as investors worried about AI infrastructure spending and rising US inflation.

Anthropic's revenue rose 45% to $16.8bn in the three months to the end of September, the BBC understands. The Claude developer gave the figure to prospective investors at a briefing on Wednesday as it prepares for a stock market listing expected before the end of the year.

The company also told investors at the event at its San Francisco headquarters that it had made a profit for the second quarter in a row. Its revenue has grown in each quarter this year, from $4.7bn in the first three months to $11.6bn in the next.

Tech shares fall

Some US technology stocks fell on Wednesday over concerns about investment in AI. Shares in chip makers AMD, Nvidia and Intel dropped sharply.

In Asia, shares in Japanese tech investment firm Softbank fell more than 9% on Thursday morning. South Korean semiconductor firms also declined, with Samsung down 9.4% and SK Hynix down 10.8%. Trading on South Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq was briefly halted after falling more than 8%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell over 5%.

no clue

— Hock Tan, chief executive of Broadcom

What drove the decline

The falls followed remarks by Hock Tan, chief executive of US tech manufacturer Broadcom, about AI spending. Tan said at a conference in Singapore on Monday that many investors have "no clue" and set "extreme expectations only to find out that it's almost like they are in a casino".

Losses deepened after US inflation data on Wednesday showed price rises accelerated by more than expected in September. Investors are concerned that higher inflation will make the US Federal Reserve more likely to raise the cost of borrowing. There have also been concerns over the safety of AI models.