Lifestyle
Report: Anthropic Likely to Receive a "High Junk" Credit Rating After IPO
TechCrunch, citing the Financial Times, reports Blackstone now expects a double-B rating for Anthropic after its IPO, contrary to an earlier investment-grade claim, which could make fundraising costlier.
About 3 min read
What happened
TechCrunch reports, based on a Financial Times (FT) article, that Anthropic is expected to receive a "high" junk rating from credit rating agencies after its initial public offering (IPO, the company's first listing on the stock market). Everything below comes from TechCrunch's account of the FT report.
A credit rating is a rating agency's assessment of the risk of lending to a company. TechCrunch explains that "investment grade" means lower risk for lenders, while "junk" is speculative grade, the opposite of investment grade.
TechCrunch notes that, according to the FT, the investment giant Blackstone is the anchor investor (a main backer) in a recent $63 billion deal to finance Anthropic's chips. Blackstone told investors in the deal that it expects the AI lab to receive a "high" junk rating after it goes public.
How the expectation changed
TechCrunch, relaying the FT, says Blackstone previously said the opposite: that Anthropic, the developer of Claude, would receive an investment-grade rating before 2027 arrived.
| Item | Earlier claim | Expectation in the latest report |
|---|---|---|
| Rating category | Investment grade (per TechCrunch's account of the FT) | Junk (speculative grade) |
| Specific tier | Not given in the report | Double-B, the highest tier of speculative grade |
| Timing | Before 2027 | After the IPO |
| Source of claim | Blackstone | Blackstone, as told to investors and reported by the FT |
What it means in practice
TechCrunch says Blackstone's forecast is ultimately just a prediction. Still, a high junk rating would make it harder and more expensive for Anthropic to raise the money it needs to keep funding its massive spending.
TechCrunch also notes that the lab has signed many large deals for compute power (the computing capacity used to run AI) over the past 12 months. Those deals have already worried investors.
What is known and unknown
TechCrunch says Anthropic formally filed to go public earlier this week. The TechCrunch report does not say when the actual ratings will be issued or by which agencies.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a confirmed rating?
No. TechCrunch says it is only a Blackstone prediction, relayed from the FT's report.
Have Anthropic or Blackstone responded?
TechCrunch says it contacted both companies and both declined to comment.
Why does the rating matter?
TechCrunch notes that a high junk rating would make it harder and more expensive for Anthropic to raise funds to cover its massive spending.
What did Blackstone say before?
According to TechCrunch's account of the FT, Blackstone previously said Anthropic would receive an investment-grade rating before 2027.
Browse the latest news in this topic
Lifestyle
Apple Intelligence Is Coming to China With iOS 27.3: Which AI Features iPhone Users Get, and What's Missing
The Verge reports that Apple will bring some Apple Intelligence features to China via iOS 27.3, with a beta expected November 4 and the full release scheduled for December. Chinese iPhone users get these AI tools for the first time, but the new Siri AI is not included.
Lifestyle
AWS AgentCore Session endpoints let you preview a web app live in your browser while a coding agent edits it
AWS says Session endpoints in the Amazon Bedrock AgentCore runtime let teams reviewing an AI agent's work open the web app it is changing in their own browser, through an authenticated URL, and see edits within seconds instead of waiting for a deployment each time.
Lifestyle
AI Infrastructure Spending Accelerates: Big Four Tech Firms Plan Over $740 Billion in Capex This Year as Investors Worry About Cash Flow and Debt
TechCrunch reports Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft plan to spend over $740 billion this year, seen as AI infrastructure outlays. Three show negative free cash flow, investors question returns, and Anthropic's IPO plans may be affected.
Lifestyle
Sam Altman Says RAM Is Better in Data Centers Than on Your Desk, as the Memory Shortage Pushes Up Device Prices
On a podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said it is "quite terrible" for the world's limited memory supply to sit in personal computers. The Verge notes that billions spent on chips by big buyers are why laptops, phones and other tech are getting more expensive for ordinary consumers.