Anthropic told investors its third-quarter revenue jumped 50 per cent to $16.8bn and that the company was profitable on an adjusted basis for the second quarter in a row. The AI start-up held a full-day investor presentation in San Francisco to build support for a planned November IPO, emphasizing its safety-focused philosophy, rapid growth, and efficiency gains. Revenue rose from $11.5bn in the prior quarter but lagged earlier growth rates, having more than doubled between Q1 and Q2 from $4.8bn.
Despite slower growth, Anthropic remains cash flow positive, generating $1.70 in revenue for every $1 spent on computing power, with operating margins at 11 per cent. The company’s annualised revenue was projected by Semi Analysis at roughly $74bn, below earlier investor expectations of surpassing $100bn by year-end. Anthropic and Open AI have cut prices amid competition from cheaper Chinese rivals and as major customers like Meta and Microsoft turn to internal AI tools.
The start-up also reduced revenue from model distillation — a practice where rivals train on Anthropic’s outputs — which accounted for 5% to 7% of revenue, cutting it back materially in Q3. Rising interest rates and macroeconomic challenges could constrain Anthropic’s plan to spend over $500bn on AI infrastructure over the next decade. US chip stocks fell on Wednesday amid inflation and borrowing concerns tied to the AI boom.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing