Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Oct 28: Amazon and Google are expected to emerge among the biggest beneficiaries of artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s proposed initial public offering (IPO), with their investments and cloud computing agreements potentially delivering substantial returns.
While venture capital firms such as Menlo Ventures, Sequoia, Sound Ventures and Spark Capital are also expected to benefit significantly, none holds a stake of 5% or more, according to Anthropic’s registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The threshold determines which investors appear in the document’s principal stockholders’ table.
The relatively small percentage stakes reflect Anthropic’s enormous valuation. At its reported private valuation of $965 billion, even a 1% holding would be worth nearly $10 billion. Menlo Ventures’ reported stake of around $14 billion, for instance, represents only about 1.5% of the company.
Unlike traditional venture capital investors, strategic partners such as Amazon and Google have invested heavily in Anthropic while also supplying essential technology infrastructure and cloud computing services.
Amazon first backed Anthropic in 2023, committing to invest up to $4 billion. It subsequently invested billions more, structuring much of its funding through convertible notes, a form of debt that can be converted into shares following an IPO or sale.
According to Anthropic’s filing, Amazon held convertible notes with $6.2 billion in outstanding principal as of June 30. These notes represented Anthropic’s entire reported debt load. As the AI company’s valuation increased through successive funding rounds, the value of the shares into which the notes could convert also rose. Amazon valued its note holdings at $97.9 billion in its own filing for the same period.
The rising valuation also affected Anthropic’s financial statements. The company reported $72.4 billion in adjustments during the first half of 2026 under the line covering changes in the fair value of convertible notes, derivative liabilities and simple agreements for future equity (SAFEs). The adjustment was non-cash and did not represent money leaving the company.
Anthropic’s filing states that Amazon’s notes could convert into as many as 1.84 billion shares. However, a provision limits Amazon to 12% of Anthropic’s partially diluted share count, which includes certain shares that have not yet been issued, such as stock options. Amazon can waive the cap, while notes that cannot immediately convert will remain outstanding and may convert in subsequent quarters, subject to the same limit.
Amazon’s holdings also include $10 billion in nonvoting preferred stock acquired during the second quarter, through investments of $5 billion in each of Anthropic’s two most recent funding rounds. Including the $8 billion invested through notes between 2023 and 2025, Amazon’s total investment amounts to approximately $18 billion.
Beyond the potential gains from an IPO, Amazon stands to benefit from Anthropic’s continued reliance on its cloud infrastructure. Anthropic has committed to spending at least $110 billion on Amazon Web Services (AWS) over the next decade.
Google is also positioned to gain from its investment and cloud computing arrangements. Court filings indicated that the company held around 14% of Anthropic in early 2025, although subsequent funding rounds are likely to have diluted its stake. A PitchBook analyst estimated that Google’s current holding could be closer to 5.6%. Google has continued investing, including a $10 billion investment in April.
The company has also secured at least $114 billion in cloud computing commitments from Anthropic through 2033.
Anthropic’s planned listing could therefore generate substantial gains for both venture capital investors and major technology companies. However, the relationships also involve potential competition, as Amazon and Google develop their own artificial intelligence models while providing infrastructure to Anthropic.
The company’s registration statement acknowledges that its cloud providers also compete in the AI market and that their commercial interests may not always align with Anthropic’s objectives.