VERSANT

Anthropic IPO Will Flag AI Backlash Risk

Anthropic is preparing an IPO prospectus that will explicitly list public backlash against artificial intelligence and data center construction as a material risk, sources told CNBC. The Claude creator, privately valued near $1 trillion, confidentially filed to go public in June and has been conducting “test-the-water” meetings with bankers and investors. In those meetings, the company’s CFO Krishna Rao faced questions about competition, margin pressure from open-source models, and the potential impact of slowed data-center development on revenue. Policymakers and voters in several states have pushed back on data center projects, and surveys show significant opposition to local AI data center construction.

Broadcom-backed debt deal may top $70 billion

Broadcom is in talks to raise roughly $70 billion to $80 billion of debt via a Broadcom-backed special purpose vehicle to finance chip capacity for artificial-intelligence companies, including Anthropic. Sources say the financing would include a senior tranche of about $45 billion and a junior tranche near $35 billion, though figures remain fluid. Bloomberg first reported the story and named private-asset firms such as Blackstone and Apollo Global Management as potential participants; Blackstone and Apollo previously led an initial $35 billion financing. The story is part of a broader surge in large-scale capital raises from technology companies and asset managers to fund AI compute and data-center buildouts.

Broadcom Poised for Large AI-Driven Gain

CNBC Pro contributor Jeff Kilburg argues Broadcom (AVGO) is significantly undervalued relative to Wall Street targets amid accelerating AI infrastructure demand. Recent quarter AI semiconductor revenue reached $10.8 billion (+143% YoY); management guided $16 billion for the current quarter and reaffirmed $56 billion for the fiscal year, with line-of-sight to over $100 billion in fiscal 2027. About 40% of recent AI revenue came from networking (Tomahawk switches) and the remainder from custom XPUs/TPUs for hyperscalers including Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. Kilburg proposes a defined-risk options spread around the Sept. 18, 2026 expiration to express a bullish view ahead of Broadcom’s Sept. 2 earnings report.