Why Should Anthropic Raise $200 Billion Now?

Chamath Palihapitiya says his caution is not a knock on Anthropic. Revenue of 16.8 billion dollars in a quarter, from a three-year-old company, is breathtaking, and he thinks the products are exceptionally good. He still wants the IPO priced to clear the market for 200 billion dollars of new capital, and he would rather see a quarter of a trillion. Two hundred billion barely buys a few gigawatts. Raising 80 billion dollars at a 1.9 or 2 trillion dollar valuation, then hoping a later shelf works, leaves more risk in the future than there is today.

Asked whether a quarter-trillion raise gets done, Ben Horowitz says that deal gets done all day long. He would take the cash reserve over a valuation optimized for the founders. As a former chief executive, he says, he almost died 17 times by running out of cash, or nearly running out, and financing is the thing most likely to stop the company.