Anthropic Filing Heats Up a Blockbuster Year for IPOs

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

So you're saying with Hilton Honors, I can use points for a free night stay anywhere?

Alex Ossola (0:04)

Anywhere.

SPEAKER_1 (0:06)

What about fancy places like the Canopy in Paris?

Miriam Gottfried (0:08)

Yeah, Hilton Honors, baby.

SPEAKER_1 (0:10)

Or relaxing sanctuaries like the Conrad and Tulum?

Miriam Gottfried (0:13)

Hilton Honors, baby.

SPEAKER_1 (0:15)

What about the five-star Waldorf Astoria in the Maldives? Are you gonna do this for all 9,000 properties?

SPEAKER_4 (0:22)

When you want points that can take you anywhere, anytime, it matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay.

Alex Ossola (0:32)

Anthropic, the company behind the AI tool Claude, files for an IPO.

Plus, the Trump administration signals a retreat on its quote, anti-weaponization fund. And this weekend's box office shows the rising power of the Gen Z movie.

Ben Fritz (0:46)

What we've actually learned this weekend is they will go to theaters, but they're really interested in creators and story ideas that emerge from the internet because that's what culture is to them.

Alex Ossola (0:56)

It's Monday, June 1st. I'm Alex Ossola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

First up today, an update on the year that's shaping up to be all about blockbuster IPOs. Anthropic says it has filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering that would put the company on a path to go public this fall.

Anthropic makes the Claude family of AI models. It's valued at $965 billion and it's emerged as a front runner in the AI wars. SpaceX's huge IPO is expected this month. Asa Fitch covers technology for WSJ's Heard on the Street column and he says there are several reasons why it matters whether Anthropic or its rival OpenAI goes public first after SpaceX.

Asa Fitch (1:44)

Which one of those goes first actually matters quite a bit. The first to list kind of sets the tone of the market. Investors have to get comfortable with it, get used to like what's the new business model that they're investing in. And it can also be a really bad thing to go second. If the first guy doesn't do too well, there's a good reason for them to go fast. Another really important one is simply that SpaceX is going to suck up a lot of capital. That company they want to be valued at $1.5 trillion.

The investors are going to put a lot of money into it. And there's not infinite money to be invested in things.

Alex Ossola (2:13)

Asa says that when the S1 filing becomes publicly available, he'll be looking at Anthropic's ties to other big tech companies.

Asa Fitch (2:20)

Anthropic has very good relationships with Amazon, with others, with Google.

What are their paperwork going to say about those relationships and how tight they are and how important they are and how big of a customer those companies are, how concentrated things are, how circular things are? These are some of the big fundamental questions about the AI boom. And to the extent that these filings can kind of illustrate that, for me, that's going to be one of the most fascinating things.

Alex Ossola (2:44)

In other AI news, Florida has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman. The lawsuit claims OpenAI and Altman knowingly released an unsafe product and ignored warnings that it could harm users.

During a press conference in West Palm Beach today, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeyer said he hopes to set a precedent.

James Uthmeyer (3:04)

So here we're going to be the first in the nation state to file a lawsuit against ChatGPT. I hope and expect other states will follow, and ultimately we need them to change their programming.

Alex Ossola (3:17)

The lawsuit comes after a criminal investigation into OpenAI that Uthmeyer opened in April over the role ChatGPT played in a mass shooting that killed two people at Florida State University last year.

James Uthmeyer (3:27)

They need to pay for it by opening up their checkbook and changing the program to ensure that there are parental controls and that we are not endangering our kids.

Alex Ossola (3:39)

A spokeswoman for OpenAI said the company believes miners need significant protection from AI and that OpenAI has put safeguards in place. She said the company is committed to getting it right. And we should note that News Corp, owner of the Wall Street Journal, has a content licensing partnership with OpenAI.

In Deal News, People Incorporated, the publishing company owned by Barry Diller, has offered to take over the rest of MGM resorts. Diller's company already owns about a quarter of MGM. In a letter to MGM's War Today, Diller wrote that the company is not currently realizing its full potential in the public markets. The deal would value the casino giant at around $12.4 billion. MGM stock closed up 16% on the news.