Anthropic is preparing for one of the most high-profile listings in the history of the technology sector, but the upcoming prospectus will feature an unusual section. The AI developer intends to openly warn investors about systemic risks associated with growing public rejection of artificial intelligence and data center construction. This is a signal the market has not yet fully priced in.
According to my information, the document will be published in the coming weeks. Anthropic filed its confidential application back in June, after which it held a series of closed meetings with banks and major investors in San Francisco. In the risk factors section, the company intends to highlight the intensification of "public resistance" to new computing infrastructure projects—a phenomenon that is becoming a structural constraint for the entire industry.
Investors are asking uncomfortable questions
Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao has already faced questions about competitive pressure from open-source models and margin compression. But the more troubling question for the market is what happens if data center construction slows due to local protests and regulatory barriers. This is not a hypothetical scenario but an already unfolding reality.
Anthropic's revenue is directly tied to access to computing power. The annualized run rate exceeded $65 billion in July—roughly $25 billion more than OpenAI. On the over-the-counter market, the company is valued at nearly $1 trillion, and investors expect a post-IPO market capitalization of around $2 trillion, which would break SpaceX's record for funds raised.
Numbers that cannot be ignored
Polls are recording a rapid deterioration in attitudes toward AI infrastructure. A Gallup study conducted in March showed that 7 out of 10 Americans oppose placing data centers near their homes, with 48% strongly opposed. But the latest data is even more alarming. According to a Heatmap Pro survey conducted by Embold Research in August among 2,045 registered voters, 75% of respondents now oppose construction. A year ago, that figure was only 42%.
At the same time, fear of job losses is growing. Pew Research found that 71% of American adults expect employment reductions due to AI over the next 20 years—up from 64% a year earlier. Politicians are already reacting: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order tightening requirements for data center construction, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a moratorium on issuing permits for new large-scale facilities.
My assessment: including these risks in the prospectus is not merely a legal formality. Anthropic is signaling to the market that the main challenge for the AI sector is now not technological but socio-political. For investors, this means that the multiples baked into the $2 trillion valuation will only be justified if the industry finds a solution to the NIMBY resistance problem. No such solution exists yet, and this creates fundamental uncertainty for the entire sector.