What’s above code red? Asking for my friend named Sam…

It’s no secret that Dario Amodei genuinely believes the safest hands to build god-tier AI are his own. But honestly, based on this week’s leaks… he might not be wrong. Because in a plot twist absolutely no one betting on “AI consolidation” wanted to hear, Anthropic (read: OpenAI’s less unhinged cousin) is reportedly lining up one of the largest IPOs in history. And before you ask, no… the Trump boys’ New America SPAC isn’t on the VIP list.

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, Anthropic is looking to go big or go home with an actual, old-school, ring-the-bell, let-the-bankers-feel-important listing, while also poking around private markets for a valuation north of $300 billion… with Microsoft and Nvidia waving around a combined $15B like they’re buying floor seats to watch OpenAI sweat. What’s more is that this all comes from the same company that started as “the OpenAI safety spinout,” which now pulls in $10B annualized revenue, scales like an MLM on steroids, and announces $50B data center buildouts on Daddy Bezos’ dime. 

(Source: CNBC) 

But to give you a better idea on how girthy this news is, let’s run it back real quick. When Dario left OpenAI, Sam Altman said he expected Anthropic to stay in its research lane and “collaborate.” Fast forward four years and Athropic has raised money at half-a-trillion-ish valuations, tripled it’s global workforce, built out Texas data centers the size of mid-tier countries, and is now hiring IPO veterans from Airbnb. Oh, and they basically scream at Wall Street, with their whole chest, “Yes, we can replace your entire enterprise stack with Claude. You’re welcome.”

Meanwhile, OpenAI is busy fighting internal unionization attempts, threading PR needles about safety boards, and trying to convince the public that the CFO’s “not pursuing an IPO” comment wasn’t technically a lie, just “imprecise timing.” Anthropic, on the other hand, is already acting like a public company… which is one reason investors love it. Another more important reason is because Anthropic is not pretending to be a charity anymore. This is no longer “the AI safety lab with a conscience.” This is “the AI safety lab that realized conscience alone does not pay for 100,000 H100s.” Case in point: Dario figured out something Sam didn’t fully lock in until later and that’s “You can’t regulate the AI race if you’re not winning it.” So naturally, Anthropic just decided to win. 

(Source: Giphy) 

And by the looks of it, investors are throwing capital at them like it’s an Onlyfans account and Claude is now specializing in feet photos (sickos). Which means, if Anthropic decides to IPO first… even a soft-file, even a confidential S-1… that’s it. They claim initiative. They set pricing. They define the comps. They force OpenAI onto their timeline. And Silicon nerds have a long memory for who goes public first in a platform war. Sure, OpenAI won hearts and headlines… but Anthropic is now quietly winning bankers. And bankers, tragically, write the history books in this country. 

In the end, the major takeaway to chew on this weekend is how Anthropic was supposed to be the “principled” lab. The cautious one. Now it’s preparing for an IPO at a valuation bigger than Nike, Starbucks, and AMD combined. Bigly. Meaning, if Sam thought Code Red was bad… wait until he finds out what’s above it. Spoiler: It involves a sh*t eating grin from Dario Amodei. Place your bets accordingly, friends. Until next time… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Microsoft and Starbucks as mentioned in the article.