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WSJ tech recap: investors push Anthropic's IPO toward $1.5T as data-center backlash spreads

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33

Why it matters

Anthropic's IPO is facing valuation pressure. According to WSJ reporting, large investors lining up for the offering want a valuation of roughly $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion, well below talk of nearly $2 trillion. Sources describe the company's S-1 filing as showing about $16.3 billion in first-half 2026 revenue alongside a large net loss. Investors cite a sharp market drop, in which the SOX chip index fell 12.3%, and some have floated values closer to $1 trillion. Anthropic has not set a final valuation or share count, and a debut is reportedly targeted for the week before Thanksgiving.

Several points remain open. The final valuation, share count and offering terms have not been set. The reporting on investor demands comes from sources, not public filings. Whether the market selloff deepens before pricing is unknown. Separately, the recap's coverage of Amazon's upscale Alexa tablet rests on that single summary and has no independent confirmation. Apple's new iPad mini has been reported separately as an OLED model.

For attorneys, the IPO timeline and any revised S-1 disclosures will be the key documents to track, particularly around risk factors tied to losses, AI profitability and local data-center opposition. The data-center backlash is also a live litigation and permitting concern. Voters rejected or restricted data centers in at least 38 jurisdictions in the November 3 elections, and a Gallup poll cited by TIME found more than 70% of voters oppose an AI data center in their area. In Amsterdam, more than 100 protesters broke into a Microsoft data-center construction site on Friday as part of coordinated European action, and protests continued across Europe on Saturday. Clients building or financing AI infrastructure should expect permitting fights, zoning restrictions and site-security issues to grow, and those pressures are now tied directly to the valuation of a major AI IPO.

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