Anthropic Races to IPO, Acquires Bun
Claude's maker is preparing to go public and just made its first acquisition. The AI startup is growing up fast.
Anthropic's Big Week
Two major announcements from Anthropic:
- IPO preparation - Lawyers hired, could happen in 2025
- First acquisition - Bought Bun, the JavaScript runtime
The IPO Race
Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for an IPO that could happen as early as next year.
This puts them in direct competition with OpenAI, which is reportedly targeting the second half of 2026.
Why the rush?
- Capital needs - Training frontier models is expensive
- Market timing - AI hype is still high
- Competitive pressure - First to market gets premium valuation
Why Bun?
The Bun acquisition is fascinating. Bun is a fast JavaScript runtime that competes with Node.js.
Why would an AI company want this?
- Claude Code just hit $1B in revenue
- Developers are a key user base
- Better tooling = better developer experience
The acquisition suggests Anthropic is serious about:
AI + Developer Tools = The Future
What This Means for Claude Users
Expect:
- Better coding capabilities
- Improved developer tooling
- Faster iteration on Claude Code
The Competitive Landscape
The AI startup landscape is consolidating:
| Company | Strategy | |---------|----------| | OpenAI | Microsoft partnership, consumer focus | | Anthropic | Safety-first, enterprise + developers | | Google | Full-stack integration | | xAI | Move fast, Grok + Twitter |
My Prediction
Anthropic's IPO will value them at $50B+. The combination of:
- Strong revenue growth
- Safety reputation
- Enterprise traction
- Developer tools
...makes them a compelling public company.
The AI industry is growing up. Expect more IPOs and acquisitions in 2025.