Anthropic's first-half revenue hits $16.3bn amid heavy compute commitments

Anthropic’s revenue reached $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026, up from $1.1 billion a year earlier, according to draft IPO disclosures that The Wall Street Journal reviewed. The AI lab spent nearly $9 billion on computing capacity in the same period, more than half its revenue and more than the $7.3 billion it spent in all of 2025. Third-quarter revenue, disclosed to investors last week, was $16.8 billion, up 45% from the previous quarter and roughly 3.7 times last year's full-year revenue of $4.6 billion.

The company has committed to around $450 billion in computing agreements over the next seven to ten years, most of them noncancelable, and has a separate obligation of more than $160 billion to lease Google-designed chips through a Broadcom deal. The draft registration statement puts infrastructure obligations from signed contracts above $600 billion, with another $150 billion possible if deals under discussion close. Minimum spending commitments include $111.1 billion to Google, $110 billion to Amazon, and $31.4 billion to Microsoft.

Some agreements require payment even if usage falls short. Under contracts with Google and Amazon, Anthropic must pay the difference if actual usage is below the committed amount, and Broadcom-related leases cannot be cancelled except in cases such as default. A slowdown in demand would still leave the company paying for unused capacity.

Anthropic reported a net loss of $80.7 billion for the first half, but $72 billion of that was noncash accounting charges tied to convertible notes and other fundraising instruments. Those charges grow with Anthropic's valuation, meaning the reported loss is partly a result of its rising worth rather than cash outflows.

To help fund the buildout, Broadcom agreed to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion, with the debt structured to convert into Anthropic shares later. That facility could cover roughly one-third of the $125.2 billion Anthropic has committed to lease tensor processing unit capacity over five years. The draft filing also notes that around one-fifth of revenue came from just two customers and that Anthropic expects revenue to remain concentrated among a limited number of customers. It flagged possible liability from misaligned AI models and said the company may not be able to insure against a catastrophic AI-related incident.

The IMF warned this month that if a heavily funded AI company falters, investors could face simultaneous declines in equity, debt, and expected revenue from that company. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he saw no systemic issue, citing executives' track records. Separately, DeepSeek open-sourced an inference engine designed to cut response-generation costs, which could pressure prices for U.S. AI companies recovering infrastructure spending.

Anthropic could list as early as mid-November, and it is reportedly targeting a valuation of up to $2 trillion.

Update, October 24, 2026

Anthropic's latest private round, a $65 billion Series H in May 2026, put its post-money valuation at $965 billion, The Profile reported; Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia led the deal. A public S-1 filing is expected as soon as Monday, Oct. 26, with a roadshow the week of Nov. 9, and the company could raise as much as $100 billion at a valuation of up to $2 trillion, according to IFR and Reuters cited by the profile. The company also contracted compute capacity from SpaceX's Colossus data centers, in addition to its Amazon, Google and Broadcom deals. Run-rate revenue passed $47 billion in May 2026, the company said. Anthropic's co-founders plan to donate 80% of their shares, and Forbes estimates Dario Amodei's net worth at about $15.5 billion, unaudited. Amodei received about $18 million in 2025, mostly in stock, and his base salary doubled to $1.4 million in July 2026. In February 2026 Anthropic resisted Defense Department demands to remove Claude's limits on mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons; the Pentagon then barred federal agencies from using Claude, a federal judge called the move retaliation and blocked the broad measures, while an appeals court upheld a narrower restriction on defense work. New York City Comptroller Mark Levine asked Amodei on Oct. 14 to pause the IPO until safety and governance questions are addressed, and the company has opened talks with his office, Bloomberg Law reported via The Profile.