Anthropic PBC’s initial public offering has plenty of hurdles to clear, and one of the biggest will hit Nov. 3, when US midterm elections threaten to upend the political status quo that’s been broadly supportive of developing artificial intelligence at a breakneck pace.
Whatever happens, little is expected to change before the IPO prices and the stock starts trading. Still, with Anthropic seeking to raise as much or more than SpaceX did in its record-setting $86.2 billion debut, and a market that’s dumped cold water on AI-related stocks in recent weeks, a changing of the guard risks shifting expectations around Anthropic’s ability to navigate the political landscape.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott ordered the withholding of permits for new data centers until an audit of risks to the power grid is complete, asserting that “Texans come first.” His rival, Democratic nominee Gina Hinojosa, characterized his move as an “election year stunt.” Anthropic has deals for multiple facilities in the state. Its $50 billion partnership with Fluidstack Ltd. — the company’s first major data center buildout — will include locations in Texas and New York. It also has a $35 billion pact with Lambda for a data center in Nueces County and a $9.1 billion agreement with Riot Platforms Inc. for a campus in Rockdale.
Banks are delaying plans to offload part of a $15 billion loan to fund a project being developed by Nexus Data Centers. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul is ahead of Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman in the polls, which suggests her July executive order on a pause of up to one year for large data centers consuming 50 megawatts or more is likely to remain in place.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing