The AI juggernaut Anthropic could "pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” its owners warned last week, “if not developed, deployed, and operated with appropriate safeguards, oversight, and security measures.”
It’s one of many similarly dire predictions AI companies have made about their own products in recent months, but this one is distinct, because it is part of the company’s pitch to future shareholders. Anthropic will be the first fully AI-focused company to list on the US stock market, with what is expected to be a record-breaking valuation. Launching its IPO means revealing truths about its finances and its ethics to the public.
So what’s in that public filing? And why does Anthropic’s leadership want investors to believe AI might destroy the world? The BBC’s AI correspondent Marc Cieslak joins Asma Khalid to explain.
(Photo: CEO and co-founder of Anthropic Dario Amodei looks on during the 56th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 2026. Credit: Denis Balibouse/Reuters)
Producer: Xandra Ellin
Executive producers: Hannah Moore
Mix: Travis Evans
Studio manager: Ben Andrews
Digital producer: Tom Bage
Senior news editor: China Collins