Anthropic IPO 2026: What the Claude Mythos Release Delay Means for Investors and Stock Valuation

TradingKey - Anthropic has postponed the release of its new AI model, Claude Mythos, cultivating a responsible image but potentially weighing on its IPO process.

On April 12, Anthropic announced it was delaying the launch of its new artificial intelligence model, Claude Mythos. According to previous statements from Anthropic, Mythos achieves a "generational leap" in reasoning and coding capabilities, featuring powerful functions such as autonomous vulnerability mining, zero-day discovery, and the ability to bypass sandbox restrictions. Consequently, it has been categorized as a "hacker-grade" AI that surpasses human capabilities.

While Claude Mythos possesses extraordinary programming power that could accelerate AI progress, it could also become a highly dangerous weapon in the hands of hackers, forcing Anthropic to halt public access to its API and web versions. The company believes that if the model falls into the wrong hands, it would significantly lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime, posing a risk of instantaneous collapse to global banking, healthcare, and energy infrastructure.

Previously, Wall Street giants including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were testing Anthropic's Mythos large language model. However, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department held an emergency meeting last Tuesday to discuss the heightened cyber risks posed by Claude Mythos. The objective was to ensure banks are aware of the potential hazards associated with this and similar models, urging them to take necessary precautions to safeguard their systems. Additionally, the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada held similar discussions with banks and financial firms.

Anthropic is reportedly planning an IPO in October 2026, targeting a valuation as high as $380 billion and aiming to raise over $600 billion. The delay in releasing Claude Mythos serves as a double-edged sword for its public debut, with both positive and negative implications.

Amidst the white-hot AI competition of 2026, while OpenAI and Google chase model scale, Anthropic has demonstrated its ability to manage "frontier risks" by locking down Mythos. This move has successfully branded the company as the "sole responsible leader," an image highly attractive to large institutional investors like pension funds and sovereign wealth funds that prioritize compliance.

However, the postponed release of Claude Mythos may impact its commercialization and even weigh on its IPO. Mythos was originally expected to generate significant API subscription revenue; the delay could lead to a downward revision of its revenue forecasts for the second half of 2026. Furthermore, the leak regarding Mythos' capabilities triggered a massive sell-off in enterprise software stocks. If Anthropic is viewed as the source of such instability, it could face more stringent regulatory scrutiny, thereby slowing the pace of its IPO.