AI TRENDS | Anthropic IPO Faces Scrutiny After Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Steps Down

Anthropic’s highly anticipated IPO faces added scrutiny after Nvidia co-founder and longtime CEO Jensen Huang stepped down on Thursday, following reports that he was involved in two extramarital affairs. The IPO is seen as a test of investor appetite for the AI sector. According to Sina Finance, Anthropic is expected to list next Wednesday or Thursday, days after Nvidia reports earnings for the first time without Huang at the helm. Nvidia is a close Anthropic partner and has agreed to buy about $10 billion in shares through a $26 billion private placement concurrent with the IPO, according to Anthropic’s filing. Anthropic has committed billions of dollars for access to Nvidia’s advanced chips. Investors and analysts said the Nvidia turmoil is unlikely to affect Anthropic’s core business but could influence the broader narrative around AI. Jay Goldberg, an analyst at Seaport Research Partners and one of the few Wall Street analysts with a sell rating on Nvidia, said Huang’s departure would not stop the IPO. He said greater risk could emerge after listing, when Anthropic releases its first quarterly results and investors may question whether the AI rally can continue. M13 partner Carl Almar said Anthropic’s fundamentals remained solid, citing strong company data, ample computing capacity and controlled spending. Anthropic is less dependent on Nvidia than many peers: some of its models also run on Google TPUs, Amazon Trainium chips and AMD GPUs. The company is also reportedly developing its own chips. Francine McKenna, an accountant and investigative journalist who teaches at the Wharton School, said Nvidia’s $10 billion commitment was likely to proceed, but investors who expected Nvidia to support CoreWeave might need another backer. Georgetown professor Jason Schletzer said scrutiny of Anthropic’s ties to Nvidia and Nvidia-linked customers could increase. With more than 400 investors involved, the IPO is a high-stakes liquidity event for Silicon Valley’s AI-focused private market. Market participants broadly view a successful listing as positive for the AI rally, while a weak reception or indefinite delay could signal that the boom is nearing a bubble break. One anonymous venture investor said Anthropic could benefit because its CEO, Dario Amodei, has differed with Huang on AI regulation, and the company’s chip development could open up supply-chain capacity.