# Anthropic's profit, with an asterisk

> Anthropic told investors it's in the black, as long as you skip the part where building AI costs billions.
- Title: Anthropic's profit, with an asterisk · Futurism | Shortify
- Summary: Anthropic told investors it's in the black, as long as you skip the part where building AI costs billions. Adjusted operating income is not profit. Anthropic…
- Keywords: anthropic, finance, ipo, claude, science, technology, Anthropic's, profit, asterisk, Futurism
- Source: Futurism — https://futurism.com/future-society/anthropic-claude-profit-ai-safety-development-finances
- Author: Joe Wilkins
- Published: 2026-09-14T18:39:10+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: anthropic, ai, finance, ipo, claude, science, technology
## Still no quarterly profit
Anthropic is one of the biggest names in AI and has never posted a quarterly profit. The company says that could flip soon, if you accept one very large caveat.
## The number they leaked
The Financial Times reports Anthropic told a select group of trusted investors its adjusted operating income will be positive for a second straight quarter.
## What AOI actually hides
Adjusted operating income strips out non-recurring costs. On net income, the real bottom line, Anthropic is still billions of dollars in the red.
## Losing less than OpenAI
If the AGI race cools and labs stop burning to win it, Anthropic's compute pile could leave it better positioned. OpenAI is even deeper underwater.

> if you continue to operate at these margins and growth rates, it will be so hard to compete [with Anthropic]
## Spectacle before paperwork
The flattering forecast arrived instead of the prospectus Anthropic was expected to publish last week. A press leak is not a legal filing.
## This is IPO choreography
Anthropic has teased a stock offering for months. Investor Brad Gerstner posted that it will IPO regardless, citing huge appetite for AI leaders seen as accountable.

> Anthropic will IPO
## Key takeaway

Adjusted operating income is not profit. Anthropic is still billions underwater on the bottom line, and the leak landed right before an IPO.