Goldman Sachs forecasts Anthropic will spend over $65 billion in 2027 ahead of IPO

Anthropic’s recent cash generation could give way to a much more expensive stretch ahead of its planned stock-market debut. Goldman Sachs analysts privately forecast spending of more than $65 billion in 2027, The New York Times reported on November 13, citing two people familiar with discussions between the bank and investors.

That forecast marks a sharp contrast with Anthropic’s recent finances. Its IPO prospectus shows that the company generated cash from its business during the first nine months of 2026. It had also spent only a small portion of the $141 billion raised from private investors, leaving much of that funding available.

Goldman Sachs is leading the offering. Its private projections describe a future spending path, not completed expenditures or a public budget from Anthropic. In the company’s investor video, chief financial officer Krishna Rao described Anthropic as being in aggressive investment mode without providing specific spending forecasts.

The costs extend beyond computing

The prospectus puts future commitments for chips, power and other computing infrastructure at $900 billion over the next two decades. Those obligations concern the resources Anthropic expects to use to develop more advanced AI models. They span a much longer period than Goldman’s forecasts for the next two years.

Employee compensation adds another substantial expense. Anthropic anticipates about $40 billion in costs in coming years tied to stock grants already awarded to employees but not yet recorded in its accounts, according to the prospectus. That figure concerns recognition of compensation expenses, rather than purchases of chips or electricity.

Investors still lack a detailed breakdown of computing spending among training and research, serving customers, and Anthropic’s own use of Claude. Ashley MacNeill, a Vista Equity Partners managing partner and former technology investment banker, told the Times that the disclosures left the company’s future cost management vague. She did not accuse Anthropic of concealing information.

More than $65 billion2027

Goldman Sachs analysts privately shared this forecast with investors, according to two people cited by the Times.

$41 billion2028

The same private forecast projects another year of heavy spending after 2027.

The revenue forecast depends on continued growth

Goldman’s outlook also contains a striking growth forecast: annual revenue exceeding $440 billion by 2029. The bank projects that Anthropic would generate enough cash to cover its costs that year. The Times noted that the Financial Times had previously reported the forecast. It remains a projection, not revenue Anthropic has secured.

The prospectus identifies a vulnerability beneath that outlook. Customers are not locked into long-term contracts, and the vast majority of revenue comes from model versions released within the preceding six months. Anthropic’s sales therefore depend heavily on recent products, rather than a customer base contractually committed for years.

Shivaram Rajgopal, a Columbia Business School accounting professor, warned that this could become a problem if Anthropic cannot sustain customer loyalty and pricing. He compared the worst-case business dynamics to Netflix: a company that must keep spending on new material to retain subscribers. His concern is the continuing cost of keeping customers, not simply winning them.

Anthropic’s case for continued investment

Anthropic argues that spending on new models creates a reinforcing cycle: better versions keep customers spending, while improvements can lower costs for both customers and the company. Executives also say Claude helps automate and accelerate their own model development. That is the company’s explanation for how heavy investment can eventually produce profits.

William Blair analysts described the constant release cycle as a model treadmill and warned that existing financial commitments could fall meaningfully short of Anthropic’s ultimate needs. Investors will weigh that risk ahead of a Nasdaq listing expected the following Thursday, which the Times said could value the company at $1.4 trillion. The offering has not been completed.