Nvidia in talks to anchor Anthropic IPO with up to $10 billion as record listing nears

Anthropic is in talks to bring Nvidia in as an anchor investor in an initial public offering that could raise as much as $100 billion, according to people familiar with the discussions, a move that would bind the world's most valuable chipmaker even more tightly to one of its largest customers. The plan, which had not been reported before, would give the offering an early strategic backer before it is marketed more broadly.

The Claude maker is seeking to raise up to $100 billion at a valuation of around $2 trillion, two sources told Reuters. Nvidia is weighing a commitment of as much as $10 billion as part of the offering, one of those sources added. If the listing is completed as planned, it would be the largest IPO ever recorded, far ahead of the roughly $25.6 billion that Saudi Aramco raised in its 2019 listing.

The talks are still being discussed and could change, the sources cautioned, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are confidential. Anthropic declined to comment, and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither company has publicly confirmed that any anchor discussions are taking place.

Anchor investors typically commit to buying a set portion of shares before an IPO is pitched to a wider group of buyers, a structure meant to give the deal early confidence. Arm's anchor investors included Nvidia and Amazon, while Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund was one of the anchor investors in SpaceX's offering, according to the Reuters report.

Key Facts

Reuters reported on September 11 that Anthropic is in talks with Nvidia about the chipmaker taking an anchor role in the offering, citing two people familiar with the matter. The exclusive was reported by Reuters journalists Krystal Hu and Milana Vinn. Free Malaysia Today, citing the Reuters report, wrote on September 12 that the plan remains under discussion and may change, and that the sources asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential.

The sums involved are of a scale rarely seen in public markets. Anthropic is seeking as much as $100 billion in proceeds at a valuation of about $2 trillion, while Nvidia is considering up to $10 billion. For comparison, the $100 billion target would be roughly four times the size of Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing, which raised about $25.6 billion and has long stood as the largest IPO on record.

Crypto Briefing reported on September 12 that Anthropic is expected to file its S-1 registration statement in late September 2026, which would give public investors roughly one month to digest the company's financials before shares begin trading. The company is aiming to complete the listing before the November 2026 US midterm elections.

Anthropic's recent fundraising and revenue figures help explain the target valuation. The company raised $65 billion in May 2026 at a post-money valuation of $965 billion. Its annualized revenue run rate climbed above $65 billion by the end of July 2026, up from about $9 billion at the end of 2025, according to company data. Reuters has previously reported that the potential valuation rests partly on Anthropic's projection of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion in revenue in 2028.

The relationship between the two companies is already deep. In November 2025, Nvidia said it would invest up to $10 billion in Anthropic as part of a broader partnership in which Anthropic committed to buying $3 billion of Microsoft Azure compute powered by Nvidia chips. Anthropic already counts Amazon and Google among its shareholders, and both companies are also major suppliers of the computing capacity its models require.

Analysis

China Daily Asia, citing Reuters, reported on September 12 that the potential Nvidia investment would give the mega offering an early strategic backer and deepen the ties between the chip designer and one of its main customers. That framing captures why this is more than a financing story. What this really means is that the line between the companies that build AI infrastructure and the companies that build AI models is blurring, and public market investors are about to be asked to price that overlap directly.

For Anthropic, an anchor commitment from Nvidia would function as a credibility signal to public investors. The company has been racing to secure enough computing power to meet demand for Claude, and it has signed enormous supply agreements to get it. In April 2026, Anthropic said it would commit more than $100 billion to Amazon Web Services over a decade and use more than 1 million Amazon Trainium2 chips, according to the Reuters report.

Anthropic has also struck agreements with Google and Broadcom to add several gigawatts of TPU capacity, and it is assembling an internal team to design chips tailored to Claude in order to gain more control over hardware costs. Those commitments require capital on a scale that few private companies can sustain, which is precisely why the IPO matters to the company's long term plans.

For Nvidia, an equity stake in Anthropic is a way to capture upside beyond the infrastructure layer, according to Crypto Briefing's September 12 analysis, which noted that the chipmaker has largely profited by selling the hardware that AI labs buy or rent. The bigger picture here is that the timing of the deal matters as much as its size: US IPOs excluding special purpose acquisition companies had raised a record $137 billion through the end of August 2026, according to Dealogic data cited in the Reuters report, and Anthropic's listing would follow SpaceX's June listing. Crypto Briefing noted that the talks are still described as early stage and that a deal of this size would involve extensive negotiations with underwriters, regulatory filings and roadshow preparation.

Why It Matters

An IPO at roughly $2 trillion would make Anthropic one of the most valuable companies in the world on its first day of trading, and it would more than double the $965 billion post-money valuation the company reached in its May 2026 round within a matter of months. Few companies have ever attempted to raise so much in a single offering, and none has done so in the AI sector.

The deal also matters because of the concentration it represents. Nvidia would be investing in a company that is also a major buyer of its chips, while Anthropic's shareholder base already includes Amazon and Google, two other companies that supply it with computing capacity. That circularity raises questions about how independent these relationships will remain once Anthropic's shares trade publicly and its results are scrutinized every quarter.

Above all, the outcome will be read as a verdict on the broader AI capital cycle. If investors absorb a $100 billion offering at a $2 trillion valuation, the message to other labs will be that public markets are open for business at extraordinary scale. If the deal is trimmed, delayed or repriced, the signal will run in the opposite direction.

Next Up

The next concrete milestone is Anthropic's S-1 filing, expected in late September 2026, which will give the first detailed public look at the company's finances, including the revenue trajectory that underpins the target valuation. The listing is expected to be completed before the November 2026 US midterm elections.

The Nvidia talks are not final. Both Reuters and the syndicated Reuters report carried by Free Malaysia Today noted that the discussions are ongoing and could change, and neither company has commented on the record. Nvidia must still decide whether to commit as much as $10 billion, and Anthropic must still convince underwriters and public investors that a valuation of around $2 trillion is justified by a business that reported an annualized revenue run rate above $65 billion at the end of July.