Anthropic is preparing for the largest tech listing of the decade, but in its investor documents, the company is forced to honestly admit: its main enemy is not competitors, but public opinion.
New risk section: fear of AI and concrete
In the prospectus, which will be filed in the coming weeks, the company will for the first time highlight as a separate block the threat associated with the growth of "public resistance" to data center construction. This is not a formality: according to my information, the confidential application was filed back in June, and after that, a series of closed meetings with banks and major institutional investors took place in San Francisco, where this item was discussed particularly heatedly.
Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao has already answered questions about competitive pressure from open models and how declining margins will affect valuation. But the key investor request is: what happens if data center construction is frozen at the state level? The question is fundamental: AI lab revenue is directly tied to available computing capacity, and any disruption in this chain will immediately hit financial performance.
Numbers that make you nervous
Against the backdrop of these risks, the business is showing explosive growth. Anthropic's annualized revenue run rate exceeded $65 billion in July — roughly $25 billion more than OpenAI. The over-the-counter market already values the company at nearly $1 trillion, and investors expect a market capitalization of up to $2 trillion after the listing, which would break SpaceX's record for funds raised.
However, public opinion is working against it. A Gallup poll in March showed that 7 out of 10 Americans oppose placing AI data centers near their homes, with 48% strongly opposed. Fresh data from Heatmap Pro (an Embold Research survey from August 8–13, 2045 registered voters) already records 75% opponents — a year ago, it was only 42%. This is a structural shift, not a temporary fluctuation.
Regulators are already on the side of protesters
Politicians are reacting instantly. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order tightening requirements for data center construction and their load on power grids. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a moratorium on issuing permits for new large-scale facilities. The trend is obvious: if data centers were once welcomed as an economic engine, they are now perceived as a threat to the environment, infrastructure, and jobs.
Pew Research polls confirm: 71% of adults expect job losses due to AI in the next 20 years (in 2024 — 64%). The social contract of the technology industry is cracking at the seams.
My conclusion: Anthropic's IPO will be a litmus test for the entire industry. The company could be valued at $2 trillion, but if protests slow the commissioning of new capacity, revenue growth will hit a ceiling. Investors should closely monitor not only quarterly financial reports but also legislative initiatives in key states — that is where the fate of the entire AI economy is being decided right now.