Hargreaves Lansdown has opened applications for UK retail investors to participate in the proposed of AI giant Anthropic, which is targeting a valuation of more than $1.3tn.

Eligible clients can apply through the investment platform, with the offer expected to close at 3pm on 18 November, although it may close earlier without notice. The minimum investment is £250, and applications can be amended or cancelled before the offer closes.

The UK retail offer forms part of the wider US-registered offering, where Anthropic’s IPO is said to be multiple times oversubscribed, according to Bloomberg.

The news agency reported that the mega IPO has drawn multiple times the orders for the shares available, citing people familiar with the matter, as demand accelerates for potentially the biggest first-time share sale ever. The demand was driven by so-called anchor-size indications of interest.

Anthropic, the developer of AI assistant Claude, plans to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT, with trading expected to begin around 19 November.

In an updated filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it intends to offer 825 million shares at between $70 and $78 each. At the midpoint of the range, the IPO would raise more than $61bn, with the company also arranging a concurrent $26bn private placement involving major technology investors including Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, AMD, Broadcom, Micron and TSMC.

The proposed valuation represents a substantial increase on Anthropic's reported private valuation of around $965bn earlier this year and would place it among the world's largest listed technology companies.

The filing revealed that revenue reached $17bn in the three months to 30 September. However, the company also disclosed purchase commitments and leases of approximately $900.9bn, largely relating to computing capacity and infrastructure, highlighting the enormous costs associated with developing and operating advanced AI systems.

Anthropic held $95.6bn in cash and $36.3bn in short-term investments at the end of September.

The flotation will be closely watched as a major test of public-market appetite for generative AI companies, particularly amid concerns about the sustainability of the industry's investment boom and the scale of spending required to support future growth.

After an extraordinary debut, SpaceX shares have traded below their IPO price.
The stock was priced at $135 per share in June, valuing the company at around $1.75tn at listing. The IPO was massively oversubscribed, with global retail demand reportedly exceeding the shares available by several times and more than 100,000 UK investors applying through the retail offer.

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