Anthropic opens Australian retail IPO offering as AI scrutiny intensifies

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, has opened an Australian share offer for individual investors ahead of its planned Nasdaq listing. The move gives Australian retail investors an opportunity to buy newly issued shares, as scrutiny of AI companies and calls for stronger safeguards grow.

Anthropic is seeking up to $64.4 billion through the IPO and a further $26 billion in a private placement, for a combined total of up to $90.4 billion. Shares are expected to cost between $70 and $78, and applications through participating brokers are due by 17 November; the company plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, not on the Australian exchange. The offer comes as Australia plans mandatory reporting of some AI incidents and an AI safety regulator, following an unauthorised AI agent access to Medicare’s medical statistics website.