In today’s newsletter, we’re looking at Anthropic's (the maker of Claude) highly anticipated IPO. Yesterday, the company released a major 240-page document, one of the mandatory steps for companies ahead of a stock market debut.

I’ll leave the explanation to Adam, but I did want to bring you one hilarious story I read yesterday: as U.S. news company Axios found, when asked whether (based on the paperwork), buying Anthropic shares was going to be a good move, ChatGPT (its biggest competitor, run by OpenAI) said no. Claude’s response? Yes, at a sensible price.

The quote: “For too long, workers across the retail industry have been expected to undertake tasks before or after their rostered shifts without being properly compensated…Employers cannot expect workers to give away their time for free.”
Gerard Dwyer, national secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA), the union representing retail workers, said after the Federal Court approved a $55.2 million settlement over unpaid work at ALDI. The settlement covers current and former employees who performed unpaid work before or after their rostered shifts.

The stat: $6.79 billion. How much big companies, governments and not-for-profits spent buying goods and services from Indigenous-owned businesses last financial year, a record according to Supply Nation, the group that verifies them. That’s up 16.5% from $5.83 billion the year before.

The graph:

The ASX 200 tracks the 200 largest companies listed on the Australian share market. In the past month, the ASX 200 has risen by 2.0%, after falling to a four-month low on 1 October. Gains in the big banks and mining companies drove the recovery, despite high oil prices, rising government borrowing costs and expectations of another interest rate rise by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Popular Australian fashion label Shona Joy is shutting down, with founder Shona Thatcher informing staff of the decision on Monday.

Thatcher said she wanted to prioritise spending time with her young family, meaning she would step back from the business.

“I’ve done extremely well, and I’m proud of what we’ve built over the past 26 years. The business has grown so much, and I can’t manage being a mum as well,” she told the AFR.

Here’s what you need to know.

Shona Joy is a premium Australian womenswear label founded by designer Shona Joy Thatcher.

The brand launched in 2000, with Thatcher selling her designs at the Bondi Beach and Paddington markets. It’s known for its relaxed, feminine and bohemian style, including dresses designed for special occasions, weddings and holidays.

Over the past 26 years, the label has expanded from market stalls to international retailers, including David Jones, Harrods and Bloomingdale’s.

On Monday, Thatcher told staff that the brand would be closing down.

She told the AFR the decision was driven by her desire to prioritise her family, rather than financial difficulties at the business.

Thatcher said commuting between Byron Bay, where she lives, and Sydney, where the business is headquartered, had taken too much time away from her and her children.

She also said she had been considering closing the brand for the past four years.

“It’s an emotional decision. But I have to do this. It’s the hardest decision I have ever had to make,” Thatcher told the AFR.

Shona Joy’s online store will continue selling stock until January 2027, as the business winds down.

The closure will affect 33 employees, who will receive their entitlements, including redundancy and long service leave.

Thatcher said she considered selling the business but couldn’t find a suitable buyer, and will retain the brand’s intellectual property.

The brand’s closure comes after 26 years in business, with its designs sold internationally through major retailers.

Reporting by Adam Wan.

Anthropic, the company behind AI chatbot Claude, is preparing to go public at a potential valuation of up to $US2 trillion, even as it warns investors that the AI technology it develops could pose serious risks to humanity.

Anthropic is a San Francisco-based AI company best known for Claude, an AI chatbot similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

It was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, along with other former OpenAI employees.

The company built its reputation around AI safety, focusing on research to stop AI systems from causing harm. It’s set up as a public benefit corporation, a legal structure designed to balance a company’s commercial interests with its stated public benefit purpose.

Anthropic has faced controversy in the past.

In 2025, it agreed to pay $US1.5 billion to settle a lawsuit from authors who said it used pirated copies of their books to train Claude. It also faces a lawsuit from major music publishers, including Sony and Warner, which allege it used copyrighted songs and lyrics without permission. Anthropic disputes the allegations.

On Monday (U.S. time), Anthropic publicly filed registration paperwork with the U.S. financial regulator to list on the Nasdaq, a U.S. stock exchange known for some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

When a company goes public, it sells shares to investors and lists them on a stock exchange, where anyone can buy and sell them. This is called an initial public offering (IPO).

In the first half of 2026, Anthropic made $US16.3 billion in revenue, more than three times its entire 2025 revenue. It also recorded a net loss of $US80.7 billion.

However, most of the loss was due to an accounting rule, not because of actual spending.

The paperwork does not state how much money Anthropic plans to raise, or what valuation it is seeking. However, media reports suggest the offering could value the company at between $US1.5 trillion and $US2 trillion, with a potential $US100 billion raise. If that amount is achieved, this would make it the biggest IPO in history in terms of amount raised.

While Anthropic hasn’t given a date for the IPO, reports suggest trading could begin in mid-to-late November.

Companies must disclose their main risks when they go public.

Anthropic’s risk section is more than 90 pages long, making up about a quarter of its filing.

Much of it focuses on AI itself. Anthropic warns that advanced AI could pose “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity”, and that its models could be misused to help develop biological weapons.

It also says AI models have shown unexpected behaviour, including trying to avoid being shut down and acting in ways that resemble blackmail.

The filing also describes how a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group used Claude Code in 2025 to target around 30 organisations, including tech companies and government agencies. A small number of attacks succeeded.

Anthropic says its “safety-focused approach is designed in part to mitigate such risks”, but admits there’s no guarantee its efforts will work.

Anthropic’s IPO could test whether investors believe the AI boom is worth the money being poured into it.

The company’s revenue is growing rapidly, and reports suggest it expects to make up to $US200 billion in 2028. But a valuation of up to $US2 trillion would depend on that growth continuing.

Anthropic also warns demand for AI could grow more slowly than expected, while developing and running its technology remains expensive.

If investors aren’t convinced, a weak listing could shake confidence in the wider AI industry. If it goes well, it could encourage other AI companies, including OpenAI, to follow.

Reporting by Adam Wan.

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No more frantic check-outs out of your Airbnb!

The short-term rental platform has updated its policy to only allow hosts to make requests that are reasonable.

What’s not reasonable? Asking guests to perform activities, including stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.

Reporting by Adam Wan.