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Anthropic confidentially files for initial public offering on US stock market

Anthropic confidentially files for initial public offering on US stock market

Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic, at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on 19 February 2026. Photograph: Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic, at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on 19 February 2026. Photograph: Ruhani Kaur/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesTechnologyAnthropic confidentially files for initial public offering on US stock marketFinancial stakes of AI race rise as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic are slated to go public this year Anthropic has filed confidentially for an initial public offering on the US stock market, the company announced on Monday. The AI firm makes the Claude chatbot, popular with software engineers and other business clients, and has seen a meteoric rise this year. The company did not disclose the valuation it will target on the stock market, nor did it make public other terms of the offering. The startup announced on Thursday that it had raised $65bn in funding to value the company at $965bn post-money. Anthropic was valued at $380bn in February. Anthropic’s filing continues the company’s banner year, as well as pre-empts its rival OpenAI, which is expected to imminently file for its own IPO. Anthropic’s latest valuation also meant that the company leapfrogged OpenAI to become the world’s most valuable startup. The filing underscores the rising financial stakes of AI race as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic are all slated to go public this year. SpaceX has filed for a stock market float at a valuation of about $1.75tn as it seeks $75bn in investment. Anthropic’s confidential filing will give regulators a period to look over the company’s financial disclosures before the AI firm’s investor prospectus becomes public. Filing confidentially has become common for major firms, with SpaceX approaching its IPO in the same manner. Anthropic announced the filing in a short, two-paragraph blogpost that did not give an exact timeline for the company to go public and did not reveal the number of shares that it would offer. “This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review. The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors,” Anthropic said. Formerly considered a lesser player in the AI race, Anthropic’s rapid ascent over the previous year has placed the company neck-and-neck with OpenAI in terms of dominance over the industry. Much of its growth has taken place after the company’s release of its Claude chatbot’s advanced coding assistant products late last year. As Anthropic seeks to establish its market presence, it is also growing in cultural and political prominence as it pours money into political spending and advocacy programs. The firm spent $1.6m on lobbying efforts in the first quarter of 2026 alone, up from $360,000 during the same period the previous year. It is engaged in a high-profile lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration over the use of its Claude AI by the Pentagon, which has designated the company a “supply chain risk”, blacklisting it from military work.

UAW union strike threatens General Motors truck production

UAW union strike threatens General Motors truck production

DETROIT — Nearly 1,000 workers at a Michigan supplier plant that makes parts for General Motors pickup trucks went on strike Monday after not reaching a new contract with the company. The United Auto Workers union on Monday confirmed workers at an axle and components plant in Three Rivers, Michigan, for Dauch Corp. — formerly known as American Axle and Manufacturing — walked out of the factory and onto picket lines at 12:01 a.m. ET Monday. The union did not release a full list of demands, but said in a press release Sunday night that workers are still trying to regain wages lost during the Great Recession. "We'll stay out on strike until this company comes to its senses," UAW President Shawn Fain said during a Sunday video announcement. "The full force of the UAW international union will be standing with these workers. So, American Axle, time is up. No contract, no axles." The union said longtime workers who were making as much as $29 an hour saw their wages slashed to $14.50 in 2008. Current wages top out at $22 an hour after a five-year progression, the union said. A spokesman for Dauch in an emailed statement called the strike "disappointing." He did not immediately respond to a question about bargaining details. "The company believes that the best outcomes for everyone — our associates, the union, and the company — are reached at the bargaining table. We remain committed to negotiating with the union in good faith and hope to promptly reach a fair agreement," the company statement read. Jon Krause, a 32-year American Axle employee and member of the bargaining committee for UAW Local 2093, which represents the striking workers, told CNBC that in addition to wage increases, the workers also are bargaining for improvements in healthcare benefits, retirement and other work-related issues. "We just want the company to step up and give our members a livable wage, something that they've earned, something that they deserve," Krause said. "This local, when the company was sinking 18 years ago, kept them above water, and it's time to return that favor." Krause said the union believes that GM appears to have about two weeks' worth of axles in stock. A spokesman for GM said the automaker "is closely monitoring the situation" and "assessing any potential impact." As of Monday, production at GM's plants was operating as usual. The impacted plant produces axles for GM's Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks as well as its heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups. Other production includes smaller components for the Detroit automaker's light-duty Silverado and Sierra pickups as well as parts of Stellantis' Chrysler Pacifica minivan, a union spokesman confirmed.

Berkshire's bet on Taylor Morrison suggests the housing market may have bottomed

Berkshire's bet on Taylor Morrison suggests the housing market may have bottomed

The announcement of a megadeal between Berkshire Hathaway and top 10, publicly traded homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home came as a surprise to most in the industry. The consensus, however, is that it makes perfect sense and may signal optimism in a currently beleaguered housing market. Berkshire Hathaway agreed Sunday to acquire the nation's sixth-largest publicly traded builder in a $6.8 billion deal. The offer represents a 24% premium to the homebuilder's closing price on May 29 and values the company at about $8.5 billion, including debt. It comes at a time when the U.S. housing market is struggling under higher and volatile mortgage rates as well as elevated costs for construction and weaker consumer confidence. The war with Iran has also dealt a blow to the housing market. Taylor Morrison put out a somewhat aggressive, multiyear growth plan just about 15 months ago. "We've certainly seen some shifts in the market, so the targets we put out, we stand behind. The timing certainly might have been at risk," said Sheryl Palmer, CEO of Taylor Morrison, in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday. "I think one of the things we're so excited about is homebuilding runs in five-, seven-, 10-year cycles. Berkshire thinks in probably seven-, 10-[year] and longer cycles. That alignment is very rare." It's that longer-term horizon that most analysts say is why the time is right for a deal. "What it says is that very sophisticated buyers think the valuations have bottomed," said Margaret Whelan, founder and CEO of Whelan Advisory, which specializes in homebuilder M&A. "I assume sophisticated buyers would wait and buy later or pay less if they thought the market was still going down." Stock values anticipate fundamental turns, Whelan explained, "so that means that the housing market itself is probably starting to bottom here soon, which is good, because I don't think anyone really knew that when we don't know what's going on with the rates." John Burns, founder and CEO of John Burns Research and Consulting, noted the outlook for the housing market over the next few years isn't bright, and stocks have been punished as a result. "But long-term thinkers like Berkshire Hathaway and the Japanese companies are seeing that as a platform to buy great companies for the long term, and it's really that simple," Burns said. CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. U.S. homebuilders have recently been the target of Japanese buyers. Sumitomo Forestry just closed on a $4.5 billion deal to purchase Tri Pointe Homes. All told, Japanese companies now own 33 homebuilders that operate in the U.S.

'Disrupted or dead': AI is crushing a generation of startups built before ChatGPT

'Disrupted or dead': AI is crushing a generation of startups built before ChatGPT

Five years ago, venture capitalists were pouring money into American startups selling everything from lingerie subscriptions to scheduling software, anointing them with billion-dollar valuations before most even turned a profit. It was a frothy era for startups, fueled by a combination of cheap money and pandemic-boosted demand. But even after the Federal Reserve took some froth off by starting to raise interest rates in 2022, many founders believed that they could grow into their inflated valuations, investors told CNBC. "The ChatGPT moment was when people said, 'Holy smokes, the next generation of entrepreneurs, their coding language is spoken English,'" said Samir Kaul, a partner at the venture firm Khosla Ventures, an early backer of OpenAI. "Now you're seeing 50 engineers do what it would've taken 500 engineers to do five years ago," Kaul said. "We had to completely reshuffle how we valued these companies." While the shares of public software companies like Salesforce, ServiceNow and Workday got hammered this year because of the threat from artificial intelligence, a quieter reckoning has been unfolding in the private markets. The AI boom that funneled more than $250 billion into OpenAI and Anthropic ahead of their expected mega-IPOs this year has left hundreds of startups built before ChatGPT's arrival in 2022 stranded — effectively cut off from venture funding because of their inflated valuations and outdated technology, yet not profitable enough for the public markets. There are 857 U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more, the threshold for being deemed a "unicorn" company, according to PitchBook data. But nearly half of that group hasn't raised fresh funding in the last three years, making those valuations stale, according to the private markets data firm. Startups that last raised in 2021 are now worth 68% less on average, while those that last raised in 2022 saw a 52% decline, according to Pitchbook's own valuation estimates. As a result, more than 220 companies that had reached billion-dollar valuations in the venture boom are now fallen unicorns, according to PitchBook, which provided a list of the companies exclusively to CNBC. The estimates are based on factors including head count growth and comparisons with public companies. "A lot of those companies are pre-AI, not just in their cost structure, but also in their products," Mercury CEO Immad Akhund told CNBC. His company, which raised $200 million in funding last month, provides banking services to a third of early-stage U.S. venture-backed firms. "They're definitely in a difficult spot," he said. "All the attention's on AI, so if you're not an AI-first company, you need really strong numbers to raise." The list of fallen unicorns includes well-known brands like Glossier, The Farmer's Dog, Rothy's, Brooklinen and Savage X Fenty, the lingerie company founded by musician Rihanna. The companies were part of a wave of direct-to-consumer firms built on the hope that digital retailers could earn software-like margins.

Ex-Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounds alarm over political interference

Ex-Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounds alarm over political interference

Jerome Powell in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/ReutersView image in fullscreenJerome Powell in Boston, Massachusetts on Sunday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/ReutersJerome PowellEx-Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounds alarm over political interferencePowell says central bank has been facing ‘stress test’ under Trump, as supreme court weighs decision on Fed governor that president tried to fire Jerome Powell, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, has warned that a single act of political interference in monetary policy could permanently destroy public trust in the central bank. As Donald Trump’s administration continues to test the Fed’s longstanding independence, Powell said in a speech on Sunday night that the institution was in the midst of a “stress test”. Powell, who was accepting the 2026 John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award in Boston, stepped down as Fed chair last month, and was succeeded by Kevin Warsh, but remains on its board of governors. Legal protections insulating monetary policy from politics “have served the public well” across administrations of both parties, Powell argued in his acceptance speech. “If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences,” he added, “then future administrations will do so as well”. He spoke as the supreme court weighs a highly anticipated decision on the fate of the Fed governor Lisa Cook, whom Trump attempted to fire last August. Powell did not mention Trump, or Cook, by name. “The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based only on what’s best for all Americans,” Powell said. “The Fed’s credibility would be lost.” The JFK Library Foundation’s award committee said it was honoring Powell for withstanding “years of personal attacks and threats from the highest levels of government”, noting that he “refused to let political forces dictate monetary policy”. Fed decisions were made “based only on our best economic analysis of what would most benefit the people we serve”, Powell said on Sunday. “We do not take into account the fortunes of any political party or politician.” Powell repeatedly defied the US president’s demands for drastic interest rate cuts. Trump’s subsequent attempt to exert greater control over the Fed set the stage for a constitutional showdown that has unsettled global markets for months. Last August Trump announced he was removing Cook, citing what he described as “deceitful and potentially criminal conduct” relating to mortgage transactions, marking the first time in the Fed’s history that a sitting president had attempted to remove a Fed governor. Cook denied any wrongdoing and refused to leave. A federal district judge blocked the firing in September, concluding that Cook’s alleged conduct could not constitute lawful “cause” for dismissal because it occurred before she took office. When the case reached the supreme court in January, both conservative and liberal justices signaled skepticism towards the administration’s position, indicating they were unlikely to grant its request to lift the injunction while litigation continued. A final ruling is expected before the court rises for summer, typically in late June.

How 'confused' AI rollout hurts firms and baffles staff

BBC Business6/1/2026

How 'confused' AI rollout hurts firms and baffles staff

When AI engineer Malcolm was working at a data analysis firm, executives wanted to use generative AI to categorise the customer database into a range of personas. A traditional machine learning model would have been much more appropriate, he argued, producing consistent, repeatable results. And it would have been much cheaper. "They still went ahead with Gen AI," says Malcolm (we have not used his real name). That meant a process that was less accurate and much more expensive, but it also allowed the organisation to say they were embracing AI. Malcolm's experience will be familiar to staff at other companies. More bosses are embracing AI and insisting their staff use it. In February, global consultancy Accenture reportedly told staff that promotions to top roles would require "regular adoption of AI tooling" and it would be tracking their usage of the AI platform it has developed. And in May, rival firm KPMG said it had developed a dashboard to track whether its US employees' meet a 75% usage target for its AI tools. The company says this is part of "a holistic effort… to help people move up the AI maturity curve." Other organisations are taking a less targeted approach to implementing AI but nevertheless expect it to transform how their workforces spend their days. The UK government is banking on AI to help "rewire" the state and boost efficiency across Whitehall. However, research by the civil servant union, the FDA, shows that while civil servants were open to the idea of using AI to improve productivity, there's doubt that management can handle the transformation. Less than a third of civil servants had been consulted on how the technology could be rolled out, the union found, meaning "change is being done to workers, not with them".

Nvidia launches ‘superchip’ putting AI power into laptops and PCs

Nvidia launches ‘superchip’ putting AI power into laptops and PCs

A new front has opened up in the battle for dominance in AI chips, as Nvidia said its latest development could replace the mouse and keyboard in how people use computers. The $5tn (£3.7tn) US semiconductor company has launched a “superchip” that puts AI capabilities into laptops and desktop computers, a move that will pit it against Intel, Apple, Qualcomm and AMD. The RTX Spark chip will be launched this year, and will be used by computer makers including Dell, Lenovo, Asus and HP, paired with Microsoft’s Windows software, according to the Nvidia chief executive, Jensen Huang. Speaking at the Computex conference in Taiwan, Huang said the chip would “reinvent the PC” for the AI era, after three years of collaboration between Nvidia and Microsoft. A combination of a microprocessor and a graphics chip, developed with help from Taiwan’s MediaTek, it is designed to run AI agents locally rather than relying on cloud computing. It will allow agents to navigate PCs autonomously, replacing humans’ traditional mouse and keyboard interactions. Because the chip is very powerful, computers will still be thin and light, the company said. The company’s foray into the consumer PC industry will open up a new business line, but this will take time, analysts said. Nvidia, which dominates the booming AI semiconductor market, is pushing beyond graphics cards into integrated chips that power the whole computer. Neil Shah, a co-founder of Counterpoint Research, compared the “RTX Spark moment” with the advent of the iPhone, ChatGPT and DeepSeek. “The RTX Spark looks to transform the traditional app-centric PC to a real useful agentic AI personal computer which will eventually be in every home in coming years as private edge AI agents become pivotal,” he said. The new chip and Nvidia’s Vera central processing unit (CPU) demonstrate the company’s growing focus on PC and CPU products. The Vera CPU is designed for AI agents and early adopters, including OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX. Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: “Nvidia’s latest push into AI-powered personal computers marks a bold attempt to extend its dominance beyond datacentres and into consumers’ everyday lives. The unveiling of the RTX Spark chip reinforces Jensen Huang’s vision of PCs evolving from simple productivity tools into hyperintelligent digital co-workers. “While strategically significant, investors are likely to view the move as a longer-term growth opportunity rather than an immediate earnings driver. For now, Nvidia’s fortunes still depend overwhelmingly on relentless global demand for AI infrastructure and datacentre computing power.”

McDonald's unveils new global growth strategy to win over diners as competition rises

McDonald's unveils new global growth strategy to win over diners as competition rises

McDonald's on Monday unveiled its latest global growth strategy to help the fast-food giant become customers' first choice as it faces new rivals and consumer spending stretched by high gas prices. A new restaurant design, better-tasting food and drinks, consumer-led innovation and improved customer service are the four cornerstones of the new plan, which the company calls "McDonald's > NEXT." Executives made the announcement at McDonald's biennial Worldwide Convention for franchisees, held this year in Las Vegas. The chain released its last global strategy, known as "Accelerating the Arches," in November 2020 as its sales bounced back from the pandemic. The growth plan comes as restaurants compete for a smaller pool of customers, and a new crop of chains, including Raising Cane's and 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee, threaten McDonald's sales. So far, McDonald's, the largest U.S. restaurant chain by revenue, has managed to hold onto its dominant spot, with four straight quarters of same-store sales growth. "Traditional competitors are upgrading their menus, and a new wave of specialists are emerging and redefining taste and quality across chicken, beef, and beverages," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a memo to the chain's global system. "In a world where every restaurant is a swipe away, there is no such thing as second place," he added. To become diners' first option, McDonald's plans to focus on menu innovation that elevates taste and quality, like improvements to its McCrispy chicken line. For years, the chain has sought to improve and expand its chicken offerings as rivals like Chick-fil-A stole its customers. Plus, Americans have been eating more chicken than beef for the past 16 years, due to health concerns tied to the consumption of red meat and higher beef prices, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. "We're raising the bar for our menu by improving quality and consistency at scale and innovating in spaces where we see growth potential and know matter to our customers, like chicken, beef and beverages," said Jill McDonald, the chain's global chief restaurant experience officer. The chain also wants to "co-create" with customers by listening more closely to what consumers want and how they interact with brands. Recent examples include the popularity of its viral Grimace milkshake and its collaboration with "A Minecraft Movie." The new restaurant design will give McDonald's a recognizable look, but it should also ease employee headaches and improve kitchen operations. The company said back-end systems will be more intuitive and connected, for example. McDonald's is also testing automated order taking at five U.S. restaurants using a system it named ARCHY to let employees focus on other tasks. More broadly, the chain also said it wants to "redefine hospitality" by improving customer service and training employees to interact more with diners. In September, the company will hold an investor day that will include more details about the strategy and relevant financial targets.