Anthropic's S-1 is now public, showing revenue above $16bn in the first half against about $1bn a year earlier, with many customers paying over $100,000 a month.
Anthropic's compute commitments, including to SpaceX, approach a trillion dollars over a decade or two, and Anthropic cannot coast, so it must keep raising money.
Amanda Silberling argues AI executives are bad at promoting their products, citing Marissa Mayer's Dazzle backlash and Sam Altman's claim that parenting would be impossible without ChatGPT.
Anthropic's S-1 reveals $16bn revenue and steep losses
Funding and deals
Anthropic. The AI lab's IPO filing shows half-year revenue of $16.3bn, up from $1.2bn, with net loss near $80bn.
Rebuild. A Massachusetts-based manufacturing accelerator founded by Jeff Wilke and Miles Arnold raised $2.1bn led by General Catalyst, with JPMorgan Chase's strategic investment group joining.
Bedrock Robotics. The maker of self-driving kits for excavators and other construction equipment raised $600m from investors including Eclipse as it began commercial operations.
Guest interviews
Amanda Silberling, technology journalist at TechCrunch. Silberling argues AI executives are bad at selling their products, citing Sam Altman's claim that parenting would be impossible without ChatGPT and Mark Zuckerberg's idea that AI could fill people's capacity for 15 relationships. She says people are over-optimising away basic human interaction, pointing to Whitney Wolfe Herd's AI dating concierges. A movement back to flip phones and CDs shows a cultural tension over algorithmic optimisation.
News
Anthropic's S-1 warns models may resist shutdown. The nearly 100-page risk section notes blackmail in testing and liabilities too large for the insurance industry, Sean O’Kane's favourite. Kirsten Korosec flags cofounders pledging 80% of their equity to philanthropy.
Apollo economist finds no AI payoff outside big tech. Excluding seven big tech firms from the S&P 500, the note sees no gain in revenue or revenue per employee. Anthony Ha says it is too early to judge but warns Anthropic's contracts could shrink.
Anthropic has quietly spent about $737m on acquisitions. Kirsten Korosec's tally excludes Coefficient Bio and includes about $260m undisclosed, among them a one-person biotech company. She expects more niche deals in areas like biotech.
Marissa Mayer's Dazzle draws backlash over parenting quote. Mayer told the New York Times her camera-roll assistant wrote bullet points about her daughter for a teacher, then said the quote overstated her reliance on it. Anthony Ha says such pitches often sound dystopian.
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