Anthropic, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) company behind the Claude AI assistant, is expected to be valued at $2 trillion by investors when it floats on the stock market – possibly as soon as October.

The valuation, which would be the most expensive IPO valuation ever, has been defended by notable investor Jim Cramer.

The five-year-old company is thought to increase revenues to between $100 billion and $120 billion by the end of 2026.

On Down to Business with Bobby Kerr, Ronan Reid, director of Cantor Fitzgerald, said the company is growing at approximately 800% per year.

He said that despite significant investment in the company by rivals NVIDIA, Google, and Microsoft, the majority of Anthropic shared are owned by founders and employees.

Additionally, the company’s board is controlled by a “long-term trust” who are barred from owning stock, with the trust forming a majority of the board members.

“One of the most disruptive technologies… since the advent of the mobile phone”

Mr. Reid said that there are fears in the sector that Chinese companies could emerge with a cheaper AI model, disrupting the wider AI industry.

Additionally, he theorised that current methods of accessing AI– through a PC – could change rapidly if “some form of quantum computing” made computers more effective, therefore decreasing AI’s value.

Despite these fears, Mr. Reid noted that Anthropic are rumoured to be spending $6 billion to acquire Israeli AI company Decart to accelerate the delivery of AI models.

‘They’re all buying from each other’

Mr. Reid said that the Anthropic IPO valuation will test markets’ trust in the AI sector, amid fears of an ‘AI Boom.’

However, he said that the market was highly interconnected, with multiple companies investing in each other, boosting share value.

Mr. Reid also mentioned that many index funds invest in relatively few companies, with some AI companies included in “The Magnificent Seven,” but that the number of companies will grow to become a “Magnificent Ten.”