Anthropic: S-1 and a Major Bet for Bessemer and Spark Capital

Anthropic is on a meteoric trajectory, and its early backers have made winning bets. At the same time, deals are piling up in AI, U.S. authorities are scrutinizing competition, and San Francisco continues to attract more investors despite rents on par with New York.

Regulator and Mega-Deals Stirring Up AI

The U.S. Department of Justice is examining Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Hugging Face for nearly $13 billion, questioning its potential effects on competition in AI. Meanwhile, Intel has finalized the purchase of Israeli quantum startup Classiq for $2.3 billion. In the insurance software sector, Guidewire announced the acquisition of British company Hyperexponential for $1.7 billion. Valuations remain high: the AI coding startup Cognition received offers between $70 and $80 billion, while Wealthsimple raised CAD 13.8 billion. In healthcare, Ferring has a deal that could reach $1.4 billion to acquire Gameto. On the venture capital front, Andreessen Horowitz is expanding its focus beyond crypto assets and has renamed its vehicle a16z Frontier.

S-1 Published and Central Role of Early Investors

Anthropic's S-1 is now public, following delays in the fall. Spark Capital, the lead investor in a spring 2023 round, holds over 1% of the equity and appears more than 50 times in the prospectus. This exposure highlights the significant role early backers will play in the upcoming stock trajectory.

Bessemer Bets $800M and Claims Early Conviction

Byron Deeter, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, claims he has never seen a company grow so quickly. Since 2024, Bessemer has invested $800 million in Anthropic, the largest bet in its history, for a position close to 1%. At the time of their first investment, the $18 billion valuation was considered high by many players, with some calling it a FOMO bet. Deeter argues that Anthropic could lead, or come close, and if not, it would be a significant challenger.

Anthropic Positioned Ahead of IPO Against OpenAI

Anthropic's growth is described as very rapid, with the prospect of record-breaking figures at the IPO and significant gains for early investors. Anthropic is also presented as having outpaced OpenAI in the IPO timeline, as the creator of ChatGPT plans to go public next year. The figures communicated by Anthropic have reassured some financial critics, but not all.

Political Debates and Geographical Maps of AI

AI-related topics are expected to remain contentious in next week's elections: the sector is demanding more computing power while populist movements oppose data centers. On the ground, a New York investor claims to spend almost all his time in San Francisco, described as the current epicenter of the AI boom. In New York, Jesse Middleton, general partner at Flybridge, believes that while San Francisco concentrates model training and money from major players, New York is transforming these advancements into consumer products, with a growing application layer citing Clay, Hebbia, Rogo, and ElevenLabs. In terms of cost of living, New York remains the most expensive for rentals, but San Francisco is catching up: the median rent for a one-bedroom is about $4,580 in New York compared to $4,400 in San Francisco, a difference of about $180 according to Zumper.