Anthropic is scheduling meetings with investors ahead of a potential initial public offering later this year, with bankers from Wall Street's three biggest firms leading the process.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase are organizing meetings between prospective investors and executives from the AI startup behind the Claude models, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The meetings signal that Anthropic's IPO preparations are advancing as bankers gauge investor demand before a formal roadshow. The company confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month but hasn't disclosed a debut date.

Racing OpenAI to public markets

Anthropic could hit public markets as soon as October, though timing remains fluid. The move would put the startup ahead of rival OpenAI in reaching public markets, potentially offering a strategic advantage if AI enthusiasm later cools.

OpenAI also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC in June but has disclosed no additional details about its timeline.

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives and researchers who left over concerns about the company's direction. The startup has found early success selling to enterprises, largely through its popular coding assistant Claude Code.

The company closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May, pushing it above OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time.

Building on SpaceX momentum

An Anthropic listing would build on momentum from June's massive SpaceX IPO and further open public markets to companies at the center of the AI boom.

The potential offering follows years in which the industry's biggest names remained private while raising hundreds of billions from investors.

The AI spending boom has fueled a resurgence in profit for Wall Street firms as they seek to satisfy investors seeking exposure to the buildout and investment opportunities in the sector.

Anthropic declined to comment on the IPO preparations.