Anthropic is now the only company left in a once busy list of US technology share listings planned for the rest of the year, TechCentral reported, citing Reuters.
The AI lab plans to go ahead with its initial public offering in the middle of November. People familiar with the matter said its prospectus could be made public as early as late October.
Anthropic is expected to start marketing its shares to possible investors in the week of 9 November, one of the people said. The sources warned that the plan and the dates could still change.
The timing is later than first planned. In September, Anthropic was expected to start marketing the offer in mid October. It was also expected to list a few days before the US midterm elections in November.
Some investors believe the company could be worth as much as US$1.5-trillion, according to the report. The listing will show whether that interest can beat a weak market for new shares.
Many large investors remain positive about Anthropic, the report said. They see it as one of the few ways to own a part of AI, a technology they feel they cannot ignore.
Two of the people said other companies do not want to compete with Anthropic for the attention and money of big institutional investors.
Other firms in the AI infrastructure and data centre business have delayed their own listings. A rise in interest rates has helped drive a sharp sell off in the shares and bonds of AI operators such as CoreWeave.
There are also wider questions about whether current spending on AI can last, the report said. Worries about competition from open source models and about AI safety have also weighed on the sector.
Data centre operator Switch and AI infrastructure company Nscale have pushed their listing plans back to later this year, people familiar with the matter said. They stressed that these plans could still change.
One person said the Nscale delay was partly because the company had to answer comments from staff at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Nscale declined to comment. Switch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SoftBank backed SB Energy has also postponed its listing, Reuters reported earlier. AirTrunk Reit, a property trust backed by Blackstone, and Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia, have pulled or paused their offers.
The recent listing of smart ring maker Oura added to the caution. A person familiar with the matter said few long term investors took part in that offer.
This raised concerns about demand from the big investors who usually give newly listed companies a stable group of shareholders.
According to the report, the pullback reflects closer checks on the huge amounts of money needed to build data centres. Investors are asking whether future demand will justify that spending, although some market players do not expect a slowdown.
Nscale filed its listing papers in public in September, while Switch filed in private, Reuters reported. A private filing lets a company work with regulators before it shares its financial details with the public.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.