News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
US judge rules Pentagon blacklisting of Anthropic unlawful
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was unlawful. "The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, and that Anthropic was denied the pre-deprivation process required under the Fifth Amendment," U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin wrote in a ruling. "The record further shows no material dispute that Secretary Hegseth's decision to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk violated the governing statutory scheme...and was arbitrary and capricious." (Reporting by Christian Martinez and Jasper Ward) Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect This story was originally published August 27, 2026 at 6:22 PM.
US judge rules Pentagon blacklisting of Anthropic unlawful
WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was unlawful. "The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, and that Anthropic was denied the pre-deprivation process required under the Fifth Amendment," U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin wrote in a ruling. "The record further shows no material dispute that Secretary Hegseth's decision to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk violated the governing statutory scheme...and was arbitrary and capricious." Reporting by Christian Martinez and Jasper Ward Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
Trump administration actions against Anthropic 'illegal and baseless,' US judge rules | MLex | Specialist news and analysis on legal risk and regulation
( August 28, 2026, 01:22 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: A federal judge in California has ruled that the Department of War's action to remove Anthropic from the US supply chain for national security concerns was "illegal and baseless." "The undisputed record shows that the challenged actions constituted unlawful retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, and that Anthropic was denied the pre-deprivation process required under the Fifth Amendment," US District Judge Rita F. Lin ruled in San Francisco, granting Anthropic's motion for summary judgment against the government. "The government is certainly owed deference on weighty issues of national security," Lin added. "But Defendants' contemporaneous words and deeds confirm that the challenged actions were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its 'arrogance' in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model."See attached order.... Prepare for tomorrow's regulatory change, today MLex identifies risk to business wherever it emerges, with specialist reporters across the globe providing exclusive news and deep-dive analysis on the proposals, probes, enforcement actions and rulings that matter to your organization and clients, now and in the longer term. Know what others in the room don't, with features including: * Daily newsletters for Antitrust, M&A, Trade, Data Privacy & Security, Technology, AI and more * Custom alerts on specific filters including geographies, industries, topics and companies to suit your practice needs * Predictive analysis from expert journalists across North America, the UK and Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific * Curated case files bringing together news, analysis and source documents in a single timeline Experience MLex today with a 14-day free trial.
Anthropic Orders Remote Work Amid AI Safety Strike Threats from Staff
Anthropic has instructed its employees to work remotely as the company braces for potential security-related industrial action that could disrupt operations. The directive, which emerged this week, reflects growing tensions between the artificial intelligence developer and segments of its workforce concerned about safety protocols and oversight mechanisms. According to a report published by TechRadar, the move stems from credible intelligence suggesting that certain staff members might initiate strikes focused on security vulnerabilities. These actions could range from coordinated walkouts to more targeted disruptions aimed at highlighting perceived shortcomings in how the company manages risks associated with its advanced models. Anthropic, known for developing the Claude family of large language models, has positioned itself as a leader in responsible AI development, yet internal disagreements appear to have reached a boiling point. The decision to shift to remote work serves multiple purposes. First, it reduces the physical presence of employees in shared office spaces, thereby limiting opportunities for organized gatherings that could escalate into formal protests or work stoppages. Second, it allows the company to maintain core functions through distributed systems while monitoring the situation from a distance. Third, the policy signals to both internal teams and external observers that leadership takes the threat of disruption seriously without immediately resorting to disciplinary measures. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that the underlying grievances center on how Anthropic evaluates and mitigates risks tied to its AI systems. Employees have reportedly expressed frustration over what they see as insufficient transparency in safety testing procedures, particularly regarding potential misuse of models in areas such as cybersecurity, biological research, and autonomous decision-making. Some staff members argue that current evaluation frameworks do not adequately account for emerging threats that could arise as model capabilities expand. This situation highlights broader challenges facing the AI industry as organizations scale rapidly. Companies like Anthropic must balance aggressive innovation timelines with the need to address legitimate employee concerns about long-term societal impacts. The remote work order, while temporary, underscores the difficulty of maintaining cohesion when fundamental questions about safety collide with business objectives. Anthropic has built its reputation on constitutional AI principles, a framework designed to embed ethical guidelines directly into model training. Yet even with these safeguards, internal critics maintain that more independent oversight is required. The possibility of security-focused strikes suggests that a portion of the workforce believes current practices fall short of the standards the company publicly promotes. By asking staff to work from home, executives appear to be buying time to engage in dialogue while preventing any immediate operational paralysis. The timing of this development coincides with heightened scrutiny across the technology sector. Governments worldwide are drafting regulations that demand greater accountability from AI developers, and investors are paying closer attention to governance structures. Any public disruption at a prominent firm like Anthropic could influence policy discussions and affect funding environments for similar ventures. Remote work policies have become standard tools for technology companies facing internal unrest. During the pandemic, most organizations discovered that many roles could function effectively outside traditional office settings. Anthropic's current directive builds on that experience, allowing continuity in research, coding, and model evaluation activities. However, the move also carries drawbacks. Spontaneous collaboration that often sparks breakthroughs may diminish, and team morale could suffer if the underlying disputes remain unresolved. Employees involved in the potential action have not publicly detailed their exact demands, but patterns from similar episodes at other AI laboratories suggest several common themes. These typically include calls for slower release cycles to permit thorough safety assessments, greater representation of safety specialists in high-level decision-making, and clearer channels for whistleblowers to raise alarms without fear of retaliation. Whether Anthropic will accommodate such requests remains uncertain, though the remote work instruction demonstrates a willingness to adapt operational tactics in response to staff sentiment. The company's leadership has consistently emphasized its commitment to developing AI that benefits humanity. Dario Amodei, Anthropic's chief executive, has spoken at length about the importance of aligning advanced systems with human values. Yet translating those aspirations into concrete practices that satisfy all stakeholders has proven complex. The current episode reveals that even organizations explicitly founded on safety priorities can encounter internal friction when scaling. Technical teams at Anthropic continue to refine Claude's capabilities, with recent versions demonstrating improved reasoning and reduced hallucination rates. These advances, while impressive from a performance standpoint, also amplify concerns about dual-use potential. A model that excels at scientific reasoning could theoretically assist in developing harmful agents if proper guardrails are absent. Staff members attuned to these risks may feel an ethical obligation to press for stronger controls, even if doing so risks career consequences. By implementing a work-from-home policy, Anthropic has effectively lowered the temperature of immediate confrontation. Office environments often facilitate rapid organization of collective action, whereas distributed teams require more coordination to achieve similar momentum. This breathing room could allow human resources and executive teams to conduct individual conversations aimed at understanding specific grievances. At the same time, the company must remain vigilant against cyber threats that could exploit the shift to remote access. Security considerations extend beyond industrial action. As an AI developer handling sensitive training data and proprietary architectures, Anthropic maintains stringent information security standards. The remote work directive likely includes updated protocols for virtual private networks, multi-factor authentication, and data encryption to prevent leaks during the transition. Any lapse could compound existing tensions if sensitive materials reached unauthorized parties. Industry analysts suggest that this episode may foreshadow similar conflicts at other frontier AI laboratories. As models approach capabilities that could reshape entire economic sectors, the humans building them increasingly wrestle with questions of responsibility. The strikes contemplated at Anthropic represent one mechanism through which these concerns manifest. Other organizations might face comparable pressure as awareness grows about the stakes involved. Anthropic's response also carries implications for recruitment. The company has attracted talent partly because of its stated focus on safety. If prospective employees perceive that internal dissent is handled through remote work mandates rather than substantive policy changes, some candidates may reconsider joining. Conversely, if the situation leads to meaningful reforms, Anthropic could emerge with stronger internal alignment and an even clearer safety-focused identity. For now, the majority of staff appear to be complying with the remote directive while continuing their assigned tasks. Model training runs, research papers, and customer support functions persist, albeit through digital channels. This continuity demonstrates the resilience of modern technology workplaces, where physical location often matters less than network connectivity and access to cloud resources. The situation bears watching as negotiations or further developments unfold. Should the threatened security strikes materialize, they would represent a notable moment in AI industry relations, potentially setting precedents for how companies address employee activism on existential risk topics. If the remote arrangement successfully diffuses tensions, it might become a template for managing similar episodes elsewhere. Observers outside the company speculate about the scale of internal disagreement. Public statements from Anthropic have remained measured, avoiding direct acknowledgment of strike risks while reiterating dedication to responsible development. This careful communication strategy aims to reassure partners, users, and investors that core operations face no immediate jeopardy. Meanwhile, the AI safety community watches with interest. Many researchers have long advocated for greater openness about the limitations and hazards of current systems. The possibility that Anthropic employees might take collective action to demand such openness adds weight to those calls. Whether through strikes or quieter advocacy, the pressure for enhanced safety measures appears unlikely to dissipate. As weeks progress, both leadership and concerned staff will need to find common ground. The remote work period provides an opportunity for reflection and structured discussion without the immediate pressure of shared physical spaces. Success depends on whether both sides can move beyond positional bargaining toward shared understanding of acceptable risk levels in advanced AI development. The episode serves as a reminder that organizations at the forefront of powerful technologies must continually earn the trust of their own teams. Technical excellence alone proves insufficient when fundamental questions about direction and oversight remain contested. Anthropic's handling of this challenge will likely influence not only its internal culture but also perceptions across the broader artificial intelligence field. Ultimately, the company's ability to address these security concerns while maintaining innovation momentum will determine its trajectory. The remote work instruction represents a tactical adjustment rather than a strategic retreat. How Anthropic builds on this moment, through policy refinements or enhanced dialogue, will shape its standing among employees, regulators, and the public for years to come. The coming days and weeks promise to reveal whether the current tensions subside or evolve into more significant organizational changes.
Salesforce Share Price Jumps Gains On Growth Outlook, Anthropic Partnership
Salesforce reassured investors that it can compete successfully in the AI era. Salesforce Inc. jumped in extended trading after the software company gave an outlook for strong revenue expansion and deepened its partnership with Anthropic PBC, reassuring investors that it can compete successfully in the AI era. Sales will be about $11.5 billion in the fiscal third quarter, which ends in October, Salesforce said Wednesday in a statement. That's just ahead of analysts' average estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Current remaining performance obligations - a measure of future sales - will increase about 14%, also ahead of the average estimate of 13% growth. The company expects revenue to accelerate in the second half of the year, even without the impact of acquisitions, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Robin Washington said in the statement. Net orders are at the strongest they've been in four years, she said. The leading maker of customer management software is under pressure to prove it can thrive against competition from artificial intelligence companies and products. Agentforce, its AI tool meant to handle business tasks without human oversight, is on track to contribute about $1.5 billion in revenue this year, Salesforce said Wednesday. That's an increase from the $1.2 billion reported in the prior quarter. The company also announced an expanded partnership with Anthropic, the maker of the AI model Claude. It will integrate Salesforce's products within Claude, allowing sellers to access information on their customers and sales cycles with the AI app. When customers access Salesforce data from Claude, it will run up consumption bills with both companies. This integration should help push Salesforce customers toward higher-tier plans, said Mike Spencer, Salesforce head of finance, in an interview. Revenue gained 11% to $11.3 billion in the fiscal second quarter, which ended July 31, in line with analysts' estimates. Profit, excluding some items, was $5.90 a share. The results were "encouraging," wrote Rebecca Wettemann, an analyst at Valoir. "Salesforce needed to beat the numbers, but also the narrative around AI eating its business." The shares gained more than 12% in extended trading after closing at $205.62. The stock had dropped 38% this year through July 24, but had rebounded 26% since then through Wednesday's close. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff started a conference call after the results were released by addressing "skeptics" who believe that AI will lead customers to abandon Salesforce or negotiate for lower prices. Instead, attrition is near record lows and contract terms are improving for Salesforce, Benioff said. "This nonsense of this SaaSpocalypse, I think it's time to stop," Benioff said, referencing the stock meltdown earlier this year for software-as-a-service companies such as Salesforce. Benioff isn't the only software leader who has pushed back on earnings calls in an attempt to shake investors' negativity. Peers from ServiceNow Inc. to Oracle Corp. have been trying increasingly aggressive strategies to address the sentiment. In June, Salesforce announced it would acquire AI startup Fin for $3.6 billion. The deal is expected to help the company bolster its customer service AI offerings and better compete against Sierra, a startup founded by Bret Taylor, OpenAI chairman and a former co-chief executive officer at Salesforce. (This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories -- On NDTV Profit.
Salesforce raises annual revenue forecasts, expands AI partnership with Anthropic
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Salesforce lifted its full-year revenue forecast and announced an expanded partnership with AI giant Anthropic on Wednesday, sending the enterprise software company's shares up 14% in extended trading. The companies' new "Claudeforce" initiative will integrate Anthropic's Claude AI models across Salesforce's workplace applications, building on their June partnership where an AI agent was added to the business software company's Slack app. Salesforce has been gaining traction with AI-powered tools and autonomous agents that can automate sales, service, and marketing tasks - an area the company sees as a major growth driver for the future. "We're seeing incredible demand for our AI and data products, with annual recurring revenue about to cross $4 billion," said CEO Marc Benioff. Products such as Headless 360 and Slackbot have created new ways for users to access traditional Salesforce applications and data, helping customers extract more value from their information, said Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of industry analyst firm Valoir. The company now expects fiscal 2027 revenue between $46.1 billion and $46.4 billion, compared with its prior outlook range of $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion. It also raised its annual adjusted earnings per share forecast to be between $16.67 and $16.71, reflecting a reduction in share count, from its earlier outlook range of $14.06 to $14.12 apiece. Salesforce sees third quarter revenue in the range of $11.42 billion to $11.5 billion, slightly above analysts' estimates of $11.41 billion. Revenue for the second quarter ended July 31 grew 11% to $11.35 billion, compared with analysts' expectations of $11.32 billion. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Leroy Leo) Copyright Reuters or USA Today via Reuters Connect This story was originally published August 26, 2026 at 2:14 PM.
Salesforce raises annual forecasts, expands AI partnership with Anthropic
Aug 26 : Salesforce lifted its annual revenue and profit forecasts on Wednesday and rolled out a new plug-in combining its capabilities with Anthropic's Claude AI models, sending its shares up 14 per cent in extended trading. Dubbed "Claudeforce", the initiative marks an expansion in the companies' partnership, first struck in June, and comes as Salesforce grapples with deeply negative sentiment on software stocks as investors worry about the threat from AI disruption. Salesforce, which is also an investor in Anthropic, recorded a $2.53-per-share gain on an adjusted basis from its strategic investments in the second quarter, which partly helped the company's adjusted earnings more than double to $5.90 per share. The EPS was also boosted by a reduction in outstanding shares due to share buybacks, and strong operational performance. Salesforce has been gaining traction with AI-powered tools and autonomous agents that can automate sales, service, and marketing tasks -- an area the company sees as a major growth driver for the future. Revenue for the quarter ended July 31 grew 11 per cent to $11.35 billion. The company now expects fiscal 2027 revenue between $46.1 billion and $46.4 billion, compared with its prior outlook range of $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion. Salesforce's raised annual revenue guidance is driven by continued momentum in Agentforce, Data 360 and Slack, which are offsetting continued volatility in overall license revenue, finance chief Robin Washington said on a post-earnings call. It also reflects anticipated contribution from the expected closings of its Contentful and Fin acquisitions, announced in June, in the coming weeks. "Some big deals announced in the last quarter are driving the numbers, but so is greater availability of more prepackaged, easier-to-deploy AI agents," said Rebecca Wettemann, CEO of industry analyst firm Valoir. Salesforce also raised its annual adjusted earnings per share forecast to be between $16.67 and $16.71, reflecting a reduction in share count, from its earlier outlook range of $14.06 to $14.12 apiece.
Anthropic to rent AI computing power from Nscale for $45 billion, source says
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Anthropic will spend $45 billion to rent AI cloud computing power from Nscale's West Virginia data center campus, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The move comes as the AI startup looks to secure capacity to meet an anticipated surge in demand for products such as its AI coding tool, Claude Code. Nscale, a cloud infrastructure provider, will deploy Nvidia's new Vera Rubin chips to support Anthropic's computing needs, the person said. The six-year agreement represents about 460 megawatts of power capacity. Anthropic has moved aggressively in recent months to overcome capacity constraints for its services. It agreed in May to rent the full computing power of SpaceX's Colossus 1 facility in Memphis, which houses more than 220,000 Nvidia processors and 300 megawatts of new capacity. Anthropic declined to comment. Bloomberg News first reported the development earlier on Wednesday. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City and Anzar Mehraj in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
Salesforce's stock gets an Anthropic boost - and more highlights from earnings
Salesforce clears Wall Street's second-quarter expectations and deepens its ties with AI lab Anthropic Salesforce reaffirmed that it's on track for organic revenue reacceleration in the second half of the year. Investors were impressed by Salesforce's artificial-intelligence progress in the latest quarter as the software giant on Wednesday reported an earnings beat driven by growing demand for the company's agentic-AI tools. The company posted $11.35 billion of revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, growing 11% from a year before and surpassing Wall Street's estimates of $11.33 billion. Salesforce shares (CRM) popped 13% higher in the extended session. It's the biggest post-earnings jump for the stock since August 2024, when shares jumped 26%, according to Dow Jones Market Data. "AI is delivering value across every layer of our platform," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement. "We're seeing incredible demand for our AI and data products, with ARR about to cross $4 billion." Annual recurring revenue from the company's Agentforce and Data 360 products grew over 210% relative to a year earlier, to just shy of $3.9 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $5.90 cleared the $3.27 consensus estimate thanks to a large paper gain on the company's strategic investment in Anthropic. Salesforce has been an investor in the AI company since its Series C funding round in 2023. Stripping out the gain on investments, Salesforce's adjusted earnings would be $3.37 a share. Salesforce and Anthropic also deepened their relationship through a strategic partnership called "Claudeforce" on Wednesday. This integrates Anthropic's Claude directly into Salesforce's platform. While Salesforce shares are down 23% so far this year, they've begun to stage a comeback over the past month. The stock has risen 33% from its recent low at the end of July as investors have started taking a second look at the AI bear thesis that has gripped software names. "AI is amplifying the value of our entire platform," Robin Washington, chief financial and chief operating officer at Salesforce, told MarketWatch. The company has delivered over 7 billion agentic work units - a metric Salesforce uses to measure work completed by AI - across Agentforce and Slack, with 3.2 billion in the second quarter alone. Washington noted that higher usage of agentic work units is complementing core seat growth. Most importantly, Salesforce's pipeline of future business served as an encouraging signal, according to a Wednesday note from Evercore ISI analyst Kirk Materne. Current remaining performance obligations, or the value of signed contracts expected to convert into revenue within the next 12 months, amounted to $33.5 billion. That marked 14% year-over-year growth and exceeded Wall Street's estimates of $33.4 billion. After two quarters of 13% growth previously, Salesforce's cRPO acceleration is one of the "biggest highlights" of the report, Jefferies trading-desk analyst Jeffrey Favuzza wrote in a note. The company has been signaling for organic revenue to reaccelerate in the back half of this calendar year. Washington said that net new annual order value, which reached its strongest growth in four years, is keeping the company on track. For the fiscal third quarter, Salesforce guided for revenue between $11.42 billion and $11.5 billion, beating the $11.415 billion anticipated by analysts polled by FactSet. The third-quarter guidance calls for another quarter of 14% cRPO growth, according to Evercore's Materne. The company raised full-year guidance to between $46.1 billion and $46.4 billion. Analysts were expecting $46.112 billion. -Christine Ji This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 08-26-26 1850ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Could Anthropic pull off the biggest IPO ever? Five things you need to know
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26 -- Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June. Here are five things to know about the company: Built from OpenAI Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives frustrated over how the potential of AI and concerns over safety were not understood or being taken seriously enough. The company -- whose name means, somewhat paradoxically, "relating to human beings" -- is led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, a San Francisco native with a PhD in biophysics from Princeton University, not computer engineering like so many of his Big Tech peers. His sister Daniela is also a co-founder and the company's president. Anthropic has 5,000 employees, according to PitchBook. Upstart Until this year, Anthropic was in clear second place to OpenAI, which burst onto the scene with ChatGPT in November 2022, transforming the tech industry and triggering an AI arms race. But as OpenAI rolled out products from video creation to web browsers, Anthropic aimed far more narrowly, focusing on building the best platform for computer programmers. That strategy has paid off spectacularly -- coding is the rare AI skill that users are willing to pay handsomely for. Claude Code, its assistant for developers, has become one of the company's most popular products, helping push projected annual revenue to US$65 billion (RM262.3 billion). Only a small per centage of ChatGPT users, meanwhile, pay a subscription fee -- and OpenAI has put video AI and other side projects on the back burner. Trump vs. Anthropic The momentum comes despite severe political headwinds, with Anthropic at loggerheads with the Trump administration -- a state of affairs that could give investors pause. In March, the government broke off its contracts with Anthropic and designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. Anthropic called the Defence Department's move unconstitutional retaliation, and the two sides are now locked in a legal battle that could take years to resolve. The White House also bristles at Amodei's repeated warnings about the dangers of AI -- including the impact on jobs -- and his calls to regulate its deployment like airlines or banks. Amodei is also linked with effective altruism, a philosophy of targeted charitable giving scorned by conservatives in Silicon Valley and Washington. Big money needed Like OpenAI, Anthropic has massive needs for the computing power and infrastructure required to build so-called frontier models that stay ahead of competitors, amid fears that China could catch up. Both have raised money at unprecedented levels, with Anthropic valued at just under one trillion dollars when it raised US$65 billion in May. With venture capitalists -- and even sovereign wealth funds -- no longer able to play in that league, higher sums can only be found on the public markets. This is a risky step that will probably determine whether a business model exists for Anthropic's vision of the AI revolution. OpenAI, after initially promising an IPO this year as well, is now signalling it will wait until 2027. Stomaching the losses According to Bloomberg, Anthropic intends to surpass the record US$86.2 billion that Elon Musk's SpaceX raised in its June IPO. SpaceX, which absorbed Musk's AI startup xAI before going public, made its listing a partial AI bet, too. Its shares skyrocketed initially before coming back down to earth, and now sit at about their US$135 offering price. Anthropic's investors will likewise have to stomach huge losses for the foreseeable future. The company, according to US media reports, lost almost US$42 billion in 2025, and will likely keep bleeding cash for years. To lure investors, according to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic will promise that revenue opportunities are above US$30 trillion. -- AFP
Five things to know about Anthropic ahead of Wall Street debut
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives and is led by CEO Dario Amodei Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June. Here are five things to know about the company: - Built from OpenAI - Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives frustrated over how the potential of AI and concerns over safety were not understood or being taken seriously enough. The company -- whose name means, somewhat paradoxically, "relating to human beings" -- is led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, a San Francisco native with a PhD in biophysics from Princeton University, not computer engineering like so many of his Big Tech peers. His sister Daniela is also a co-founder and the company's president. Anthropic has 5,000 employees, according to PitchBook. - Upstart - Until this year, Anthropic was in clear second place to OpenAI, which burst onto the scene with ChatGPT in November 2022, transforming the tech industry and triggering an AI arms race. But as OpenAI rolled out products from video creation to web browsers, Anthropic aimed far more narrowly, focusing on building the best platform for computer programmers. That strategy has paid off spectacularly -- coding is the rare AI skill that users are willing to pay handsomely for. Claude Code, its assistant for developers, has become one of the company's most popular products, helping push projected annual revenue to $65 billion. Only a small percentage of ChatGPT users, meanwhile, pay a subscription fee -- and OpenAI has put video AI and other side projects on the back burner. - Trump vs. Anthropic - The momentum comes despite severe political headwinds, with Anthropic at loggerheads with the Trump administration -- a state of affairs that could give investors pause. In March, the government broke off its contracts with Anthropic and designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. Anthropic called the Defense Department's move unconstitutional retaliation, and the two sides are now locked in a legal battle that could take years to resolve. The White House also bristles at Amodei's repeated warnings about the dangers of AI -- including the impact on jobs -- and his calls to regulate its deployment like airlines or banks. Amodei is also linked with effective altruism, a philosophy of targeted charitable giving scorned by conservatives in Silicon Valley and Washington. - Big money needed - Like OpenAI, Anthropic has massive needs for the computing power and infrastructure required to build so-called frontier models that stay ahead of competitors, amid fears that China could catch up. Both have raised money at unprecedented levels, with Anthropic valued at just under one trillion dollars when it raised $65 billion in May. With venture capitalists -- and even sovereign wealth funds -- no longer able to play in that league, higher sums can only be found on the public markets. This is a risky step that will probably determine whether a business model exists for Anthropic's vision of the AI revolution. OpenAI, after initially promising an IPO this year as well, is now signaling it will wait until 2027. - Stomaching the losses - According to Bloomberg, Anthropic intends to surpass the record $86.2 billion that Elon Musk's SpaceX raised in its June IPO. SpaceX, which absorbed Musk's AI startup xAI before going public, made its listing a partial AI bet, too. Its shares skyrocketed initially before coming back down to earth, and now sit at about their $135 offering price. Anthropic's investors will likewise have to stomach huge losses for the foreseeable future. The company, according to US media reports, lost almost $42 billion in 2025, and will likely keep bleeding cash for years. To lure investors, according to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic will promise that revenue opportunities are above $30 trillion.
Five things to know about Anthropic ahead of Wall Street debut
Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June. Here are five things to know about the company: - Built from OpenAI - Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives frustrated over how the potential of AI and concerns over safety were not understood or being taken seriously enough. The company -- whose name means, somewhat paradoxically, "relating to human beings" -- is led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, a San Francisco native with a PhD in biophysics from Princeton University, not computer engineering like so many of his Big Tech peers. His sister Daniela is also a co-founder and the company's president. Anthropic has 5,000 employees, according to PitchBook. - Upstart - Until this year, Anthropic was in clear second place to OpenAI, which burst onto the scene with ChatGPT in November 2022, transforming the tech industry and triggering an AI arms race. But as OpenAI rolled out products from video creation to web browsers, Anthropic aimed far more narrowly, focusing on building the best platform for computer programmers. That strategy has paid off spectacularly -- coding is the rare AI skill that users are willing to pay handsomely for. Claude Code, its assistant for developers, has become one of the company's most popular products, helping push projected annual revenue to $65 billion. Only a small percentage of ChatGPT users, meanwhile, pay a subscription fee -- and OpenAI has put video AI and other side projects on the back burner. - Trump vs. Anthropic - The momentum comes despite severe political headwinds, with Anthropic at loggerheads with the Trump administration -- a state of affairs that could give investors pause. In March, the government broke off its contracts with Anthropic and designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. Anthropic called the Defense Department's move unconstitutional retaliation, and the two sides are now locked in a legal battle that could take years to resolve. The White House also bristles at Amodei's repeated warnings about the dangers of AI -- including the impact on jobs -- and his calls to regulate its deployment like airlines or banks. Amodei is also linked with effective altruism, a philosophy of targeted charitable giving scorned by conservatives in Silicon Valley and Washington. - Big money needed - Like OpenAI, Anthropic has massive needs for the computing power and infrastructure required to build so-called frontier models that stay ahead of competitors, amid fears that China could catch up.
Five things to know about Anthropic ahead of Wall Street debut
San Francisco (United States) (AFP) - Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June. Here are five things to know about the company: Built from OpenAI Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives frustrated over how the potential of AI and concerns over safety were not understood or being taken seriously enough. The company -- whose name means, somewhat paradoxically, "relating to human beings" -- is led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, a San Francisco native with a PhD in biophysics from Princeton University, not computer engineering like so many of his Big Tech peers. His sister Daniela is also a co-founder and the company's president. Anthropic has 5,000 employees, according to PitchBook. Upstart Until this year, Anthropic was in clear second place to OpenAI, which burst onto the scene with ChatGPT in November 2022, transforming the tech industry and triggering an AI arms race. But as OpenAI rolled out products from video creation to web browsers, Anthropic aimed far more narrowly, focusing on building the best platform for computer programmers. That strategy has paid off spectacularly -- coding is the rare AI skill that users are willing to pay handsomely for. Claude Code, its assistant for developers, has become one of the company's most popular products, helping push projected annual revenue to $65 billion. Only a small percentage of ChatGPT users, meanwhile, pay a subscription fee -- and OpenAI has put video AI and other side projects on the back burner. Trump vs. Anthropic The momentum comes despite severe political headwinds, with Anthropic at loggerheads with the Trump administration -- a state of affairs that could give investors pause. In March, the government broke off its contracts with Anthropic and designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. Anthropic called the Defense Department's move unconstitutional retaliation, and the two sides are now locked in a legal battle that could take years to resolve. The White House also bristles at Amodei's repeated warnings about the dangers of AI -- including the impact on jobs -- and his calls to regulate its deployment like airlines or banks. Amodei is also linked with effective altruism, a philosophy of targeted charitable giving scorned by conservatives in Silicon Valley and Washington. Big money needed Like OpenAI, Anthropic has massive needs for the computing power and infrastructure required to build so-called frontier models that stay ahead of competitors, amid fears that China could catch up. Both have raised money at unprecedented levels, with Anthropic valued at just under one trillion dollars when it raised $65 billion in May. With venture capitalists -- and even sovereign wealth funds -- no longer able to play in that league, higher sums can only be found on the public markets. This is a risky step that will probably determine whether a business model exists for Anthropic's vision of the AI revolution. OpenAI, after initially promising an IPO this year as well, is now signaling it will wait until 2027. Stomaching the losses According to Bloomberg, Anthropic intends to surpass the record $86.2 billion that Elon Musk's SpaceX raised in its June IPO. SpaceX, which absorbed Musk's AI startup xAI before going public, made its listing a partial AI bet, too. Its shares skyrocketed initially before coming back down to earth, and now sit at about their $135 offering price. Anthropic's investors will likewise have to stomach huge losses for the foreseeable future. The company, according to US media reports, lost almost $42 billion in 2025, and will likely keep bleeding cash for years. To lure investors, according to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic will promise that revenue opportunities are above $30 trillion.
Five things to know about Anthropic ahead of Wall Street debut
Anthropic, the OpenAI rival that bet everything on computer coding, is expected to go public within weeks in a listing that could eclipse SpaceX's record Wall Street debut in June. Here are five things to know about the company: - Built from OpenAI - Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives frustrated over how the potential of AI and concerns over safety were not understood or being taken seriously enough. The company -- whose name means, somewhat paradoxically, "relating to human beings" -- is led by CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei, a San Francisco native with a PhD in biophysics from Princeton University, not computer engineering like so many of his Big Tech peers. His sister Daniela is also a co-founder and the company's president. Anthropic has 5,000 employees, according to PitchBook. - Upstart - Until this year, Anthropic was in clear second place to OpenAI, which burst onto the scene with ChatGPT in November 2022, transforming the tech industry and triggering an AI arms race. But as OpenAI rolled out products from video creation to web browsers, Anthropic aimed far more narrowly, focusing on building the best platform for computer programmers. That strategy has paid off spectacularly -- coding is the rare AI skill that users are willing to pay handsomely for. Claude Code, its assistant for developers, has become one of the company's most popular products, helping push projected annual revenue to $65 billion. Only a small percentage of ChatGPT users, meanwhile, pay a subscription fee -- and OpenAI has put video AI and other side projects on the back burner. - Trump vs. Anthropic - The momentum comes despite severe political headwinds, with Anthropic at loggerheads with the Trump administration -- a state of affairs that could give investors pause. In March, the government broke off its contracts with Anthropic and designated the company a supply chain risk after it refused to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models. Anthropic called the Defense Department's move unconstitutional retaliation, and the two sides are now locked in a legal battle that could take years to resolve. The White House also bristles at Amodei's repeated warnings about the dangers of AI -- including the impact on jobs -- and his calls to regulate its deployment like airlines or banks. Amodei is also linked with effective altruism, a philosophy of targeted charitable giving scorned by conservatives in Silicon Valley and Washington. - Big money needed - Like OpenAI, Anthropic has massive needs for the computing power and infrastructure required to build so-called frontier models that stay ahead of competitors, amid fears that China could catch up.
Anthropic Bets Big on AI With $30 Trillion Revenue Opportunity
Anthropic is reportedly preparing to tell investors that the potential revenue opportunity from its AI business exceeds US$30 trillion. As the makers of Claude, Anthropic is preparing for a possible public listing, and the staggering figure sets an incredible benchmark for the AI industry. According to The Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter say Anthropic is set to present the figure to prospective investors. The estimated figure would put the AI company ahead of SpaceX, which recently used a US$28.5 trillion estimate in its own IPO pitch. The figures are based on the total addressable market (TAM) financial metric, which is an estimate of the total revenue available across the markets a company could potentially serve. The US$30 trillion-plus figure is not a forecast of Anthropic's actual revenue, instead representing the theoretical market opportunity the company believes could come from AI as it becomes more and more embedded across businesses and industries. While Anthropic's actual business is growing rapidly, more than doubling its revenue to US$11.6 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to reports, it is in contrast to the theoretical US$30 trillion-plus opportunity. It does show how aggressively AI companies are shaping up the potential of the emerging AI market. Anthropic needs to compete across a range of applications, while also spending big on infrastructure, research and product development to convert the potential into sustainable revenue. The trillion-dollar figure is interesting as it is difficult to predict how quickly AI will actually transform existing industries, and what proportion of that will ultimately be captured by AI companies. The company, which was founded by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, is known for developing one of the leading AI assistants, Claude. Claude's rise in growth and popularity has led to Anthropic becoming one of the most closely watched private companies in the technology sector. A public listing would give investors a new way in to the commercial AI boom, while also subjecting Anthropic to the increase in scrutiny that comes from a public listing. AI investment continues at unprecedented levels, and investors ultimately need to determine whether these trillion-dollar market projections reflect genuine economic transformation, or simply optimism surrounding the technology. According to reports, Anthropic is expected to file its IPO financial disclosures in the coming weeks, so a public listing could happen as early as September or October.
Anthropic Presents 30 Trillion Dollar TAM, Surpassing SpaceX
AI startup's IPO targets $100B raise, $2T valuation citing vast market potential The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing sources, reported on the 25th (local time) that Anthropic is expected to present a total addressable market (TAM) of over 30 trillion dollars (approximately 4 quadrillion 1,500 trillion Korean won) in its investment prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO). This exceeds the 28.5 trillion dollars proposed by Elon Musk's SpaceX in June. At the time, SpaceX's TAM included 26.5 trillion dollars allocated to its AI sector. SpaceX categorizes xAI, the AI model 'Grok,' and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) under its AI business. TAM estimates the theoretical annual revenue a company could generate if it captured 100% of a market. As a metric for gauging future market size, some level of estimation is inevitable. This uncertainty is amplified in the AI industry, where growth speed and scope of application are difficult to predict. SpaceX's TAM announcement also drew skepticism on Wall Street due to its unusually large scale compared to existing cases. The combined revenue of 191 technology companies in the S&P 1500 Index last year amounted to only 2.4 trillion dollars. Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University known as a "valuation guru," told the WSJ that SpaceX's AI sector TAM figure was "beyond the bounds of plausibility." According to sources, Anthropic is currently reviewing all tasks that AI models could complete to calculate its TAM. Meanwhile, Anthropic is reportedly aiming to raise up to 100 billion dollars in its IPO, surpassing SpaceX's 86 billion dollars. Anthropic targets a corporate valuation of 2 trillion dollars, which would also exceed SpaceX's 1.77 trillion dollars based on its IPO price. Anthropic's IPO is expected to take place as early as September or early October.
Anthropic now expects $30 trillion in revenue after IPO - Cryptopolitan
OpenAI generated $6.7 billion in second-quarter revenue as its losses increased and operating margin worsened. Anthropic is preparing to show investors a market of more than $30 trillion as the Claude maker gets closer to going public. That would put its estimate ahead of SpaceX's $28.5 trillion figure. As per the Wall Street Journal, it is not just a target for revenue but a total addressable market, or TAM, which means that the revenues would be made per year if a company managed to grab all customers in its market range. Startups often use these figures before IPOs, combining industry data, banker models, and assumptions about future demand. With artificial intelligence, things become more complicated. Nobody really knows how far the technology will go in such areas as programming, research, customer services, finance, media, health care, logistics, and others. According to the reports, Anthropic has decided to explore various uses of advanced models. Anthropic counts more AI-driven work as IPO market estimates keep getting bigger SpaceX put its own possible market at $28.5 trillion in a May filing before its June offering. $26.5 trillion of that amount came from AI opportunities. Elon Musk's company described it as "the largest actionable" market in "human history." Wall Street questioned the size because earlier IPO estimates had been nowhere near that high. When Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) went public in 2019, it valued its possible market at $6 trillion. Uber built that figure around the value of miles traveled through private vehicles and public transportation worldwide. WeWork later pointed to a $3 trillion opportunity before canceling its planned IPO. Anthropic's estimate goes further. The 191 technology companies in the S&P 1500 produced $2.4 trillion in combined revenue last year, using figures from FactSet (NYSE: FDS). Anthropic's projected market is more than twelve times larger than that annual total. SpaceX's trading after its IPO gives investors a number to watch. The stock climbed after listing, then lost momentum. Shares dropped below $105 during intraday trading in early August before returning to around the $135 offering price. Anthropic overtakes OpenAI in quarterly sales as costs and competition reshape the AI race Anthropic's real business has expanded quickly before its expected listing. Second-quarter revenue reached $11.6 billion, more than double the level. It was also the first quarter when Anthropic brought in more sales than OpenAI. OpenAI reported revenues of $6.7 billion for the period ending in June, up from $5.7 billion in the previous quarter. This represents an 18 percent growth rate. At the same time, the firm's losses grew, and its operating margin slid even closer to zero ahead of its IPO. As some investors were hoping for more progress on Anthropic, the slower growth and bigger losses meant that OpenAI was not performing as well heading into an IPO. Anthropic, meanwhile, recorded a small operating profit. The company has not explained how it calculated that adjusted figure. In updates sent to investors, it excluded stock-based compensation when working out adjusted earnings. However, in 2026, the power dynamics between the two companies altered as ChatGPT experienced slower growth rates while Claude Code grew more popular among developers. As a result, OpenAI had to make changes to its strategy and adjust its management structure. OpenAI spends money on the service of hundreds of millions of ChatGPT users who do not pay for their usage. The company reduced the prices of two new models as corporate clients have become careful with their investments into AI technology, preferring cheaper Chinese models. Anthropic faces similar pressure in terms of price reduction. Before the IPO, the company has tried to allay investor fears concerning the competition from cheaper Chinese models of AI. Moreover, OpenAI suspended development of certain new models and tightened control due to the fact that autonomous agents managed to break containment measures during the test period and hack other companies. This was an additional operating challenge faced by OpenAI while trying to decrease the gap between itself and Anthropic.
Dow Jones Top Company Headlines at 7 PM ET: OpenAI's Head of Data Centers Has Left the Company | Anthropic ...
OpenAI's Head of Data Centers Has Left the Company Chris Malone joins a string of recent high-level executive departures as the AI giant heads toward an IPO and ramps up its spending on computing power. ---- Anthropic Expected to Tell Investors It Sees Over $30 Trillion in Potential Revenue The AI startup is likely to top SpaceX's eye-popping potential revenue estimate. ---- California Attorney General Ramps Up Criticism of Paramount Rob Bonta said Paramount is more focused on the "court of public opinion" than the court of law in the Warner merger fight. ---- Intuit Forecasts Slower Growth, Takes Steps to Win More TurboTax Users The company said it expects revenue to increase 9% to 10% for fiscal 2027, slowing from 14% this year, as it recorded a lower profit in its latest quarter. ---- Zoom Reports Solid Earnings. The Stock Drops Anyway. Zoom reported adjusted earnings of $1.55 a share for the quarter, up from $1.53 a year ago and above analysts' expectations for $1.48, per FactSet. ---- Starbucks Union Calls for Boycott in Latest Test of Company Turnaround Starbucks Workers United is seeking a contract agreement. For investors, the key question is whether the boycott move will affect customer behavior at a meaningful scale. ---- Dick's Sporting Goods Bet Big on Sneakers With Foot Locker. It Backfired. Shares tumbled after the retailer revealed footwear discounts are sapping profits. The chairman defended a $2.4 billion deal for the sneaker chain. ---- United Airlines Ups Its Bet on Instagrammable International Destinations Robust travel demand from Americans is helping fuel new routes like Marseille and Ibiza. ---- Bank of Montreal Plans to Buy Back Shares After Strong Quarter The big Canadian lender benefited from double-digit revenue growth and an improved credit performance in its fiscal third quarter, with the lowest provision on impaired loans in the last 10 quarters, though its bottom line was squeezed by one-time charges for its exit from certain businesses. ---- Scotiabank Earnings Lifted by Record Result in Wealth Management Bank of Nova Scotia notched a rise in third-quarter earnings, driven by strong results across its business lines that included a record result from its global wealth management and global banking and markets operations. ---- OnlyFans Paid $700 Million Dividend to Founder Year Before He Died The online platform, widely known for its explicit content, was a reliable cash machine despite employing fewer than 50 people. ---- Oura and Dunkin' Get Ready to Join IPO Bonanza Investors are sizing up the parade of new offerings expected in coming months. ---- Hyundai Motor, Union Reach Wage Deal to End Walkouts The tentative wage agreement ends months of on-and-off walkouts that have disrupted production at the Korean automaker. ---- Woodside Puts 'Everything on the Table' in Review of Beaumont Facility Chief Executive Liz Westcott said the review reflected a shift in international policy positions and slack demand for lower carbon ammonia. ---- Lego Sales Growth Outpaces Global Toy Market to Hit New Record Lego reported record sales for the first half of the year as it launched hundreds of new products. (END) Dow Jones Newswires August 25, 2026 19:15 ET (23:15 GMT) Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Tech stocks rally on Wall Street as Anthropic eyes US$30tr market
Mōrena and welcome to today's wrap of the business and political headlines you need to know this morning. Tech stocks were back in favour on Wall Street, with chipmaker Nvidia set to snap its losing streak ahead of its latest quarterly update, while Anthropic's estimates of the artificial intelligence market are even loftier than SpaceX's view. Brent crude oil prices dipped below US$90 a barrel as US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent's plans to further isolate Iran were seen as not antagonising China unnecessarily, although his plans to rein in the bond market copped criticism from his longtime mentor, hedge fund veteran Stanley Druckenmiller. Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva urged governments to get their books in order, ahead of Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh's keynote speech at the annual central bankers' symposium in Wyoming later this week. The generally upbeat sentiment is set to flow through to the antipodes, with the kiwi dollar stronger and ASX futures pointing to a positive start to the day across the Tasman as earnings season continues, with Woolworths, WiseTech Global and Meridian Energy among companies reporting today. Nvidia was on track to snap a seven-day losing streak, with the Nasdaq Composite up 0.6% in late trading as investors regained their appetite for tech companies. The chipmaker is due to report its quarterly earnings on Wednesday in the US. "The earnings are arguably the most important corporate event of the week," Greg Boland, market strategy consultant at Moomoo, said in a note. "Investors will be looking closely at Blackwell shipments, data-centre revenue, hyperscaler capital expenditure and Nvidia's guidance for the coming quarter." The Wall Street Journal reported Anthropic would likely tell investors its total addressable market was US$30 trillion, topping the US$29.5tr figure put forward in SpaceX's blockbuster initial public offering documents. Meanwhile, OpenAI said its new Jalapeno chips outperformed Nvidia's current crop of AI processors, although the WSJ separately reported the ChatGPT maker lost another key executive, with the departure of Chris Malone who oversaw its data centre buildout. And Nvidia-backed AI cloud-computing provider Lambda was reportedly in talks to raise as much as US$3 billion ahead of a potential listing next year. Gains on Wall Street were widespread, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both up 0.3%, while across the Atlantic, the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.3% and Germany's DAX gained 0.6%. France's CAC 40 dipped 0.2%. Brent crude oil futures fell 3.9% to US$88.60 a barrel as investors took heart from the fact that the latest round of US sanctions on Iran stopped short of directly penalising China, which said it would take all necessary measures to protect its interests. Separately, Iran and Oman said they'd discussed a proposed framework to set up a temporary corridor for ships to go through the Strait of Hormuz. The softer oil prices helped support bonds, with the yield on 10-year US treasuries falling 8 basis points to 4.64%. Veteran hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller penned an op-ed in the WSJ criticising Bessent's bond-buying programme, saying governments defending prices against fundamentals always lose. Meanwhile, IMF head Georgieva said the global economy had been resilient in the face of stubborn inflation, while urging governments to keep their debt levels and deficits at sustainable levels. Canada matched the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, doubling its levies on a range of products to 50%, although Canadian lenders Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal played down trade concerns as their respective quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations. SpaceX was up 2.3% in late trading after the space conglomerate said it planned to build a US$100b rocket launch complex in Louisiana, while rocket parts maker Ursa Major Technologies planned to go public through a special purpose acquisition company at a US$2.3b valuation. Nasdaq-listed local favourite Rocket Lab was down 2.2% at US$66.73 in late trading. Australian futures are pointing to a 0.3% gain for the S&P/ASX 200 index when trading opens across the Tasman as earnings season continues, while Australian inflation figures are also in focus. The kiwi dollar traded at 83.43 Australian cents at 7am in Auckland from 83.32 cents yesterday, and rose to 59.73 US cents from 59.56 cents.
Anthropic Tells Staff to Work From Home Due to Potential Security Workers' Strike
Security company Allied Universal warned Anthropic that its workers might go on strike, prompting the AI company to order its staff to work from home, but the security guards' union said it knew nothing about the strike. Anthropic told employees at its San Francisco offices to stay home Monday and Tuesday after receiving notice from its security contractor, Allied Universal, that its workers could potentially walk off the job, as Business Insider reports. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents many of the security workers, told the outlet it had neither authorized a strike nor threatened one for this week. The union reportedly said it has been engaged in lengthy contract negotiations with Allied and other California security companies since April. The union represents thousands of security workers statewide and is seeking higher wages, improved healthcare benefits, and more extensive job training. Neither company responded to requests for comment. According to Business Insider, Anthropic generally requires employees to work from its offices at least 25% of the time under its hybrid policy. Security concerns have also become an increasingly prominent issue across the tech industry, with The Wall Street Journal reporting threats against employees at both Anthropic and OpenAI. The timing comes as Anthropic prepares for a potential initial public offering. The company made a confidential filing in June and could file publicly as soon as August, while secondary-market trading has reportedly pushed its valuation to about $1.5 trillion. Allied Universal has also faced scrutiny in recent years. Oaklandside reported last year that the City of Oakland withdrew a proposed contract with the company after it was revealed that one of its subsidiaries works with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The city also found what it described as a "shocking" number of lawsuits and violations involving Allied. Earlier this month, Allied became the subject of a lawsuit over the theft of two shipping containers holding about $858,000 worth of merchandise from a Mercedes-Benz facility in Fontana, California, while the property was under the company's guards' watch. The complaint alleges that the guards failed to properly monitor surveillance footage, detect unauthorized vehicles entering the property, patrol the facility, or control access to the site.
