Chip stocks fall after the US midterms as Anthropic's IPO nears

Anthropic's share sale could reach investors this week

Bloomberg expects Anthropic to start pitching its share offer to investors as soon as the week of 9 November. Anthropic filed its S-1 publicly on 26 October under the proposed ticker "ANT". Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the lead global bookrunners, and about 20 other banks are in the syndicate. For the 12 months to 30 June 2026, the filing shows US$19.7 billion in revenue and a net loss of US$109.74 billion. The S-1 doesn't set offering terms. IPO professionals expect a raise of around US$75 billion, and Reuters thinks the company could list at a market value close to US$1.5 trillion.

What it means for NZ organisations: A listed Anthropic will have to report its results every quarter. If your team builds on Claude, you'll be able to judge your supplier's finances from public filings.

Midterm results drag down AI and chip shares

US markets fell sharply on Thursday 5 November. The Nasdaq lost 5.5%, its worst day since April 2025. Qualcomm and Nvidia each dropped more than 9%, and AMD, Micron and Applied Materials posted double-digit falls. Nvidia's market value fell by close to US$450 billion. CNBC pointed to several causes: investors now worry the AI building boom will slow after Democrats swept Congress, interest rates are rising, capital spending needs are heavy, and Qualcomm gave a weak forecast. Voters also faced 41 local ballot measures across 10 states that would have restricted data-centre construction. They went against data centres in every one except Harwood, North Dakota.

What it means for NZ organisations: If your plans assume US cloud capacity will stay cheap and easy to get, leave some room for error. Local opposition is now slowing how fast US compute gets built.

OpenAI sets terms for its data-centre neighbours

OpenAI released a National Community Compact on 5 November. It applies to campuses OpenAI owns and operates. Capacity that partners build for it isn't covered. Under the compact, OpenAI will pay for its sites' electricity and the extra grid infrastructure needed to serve them. It'll also give financial assurances before major spending starts, disclose water and power use for each site, commission yearly noise studies, and stop asking public officials to sign non-disclosure agreements. The pledges are voluntary. Separately, a person familiar with the deal said on 6 November that OpenAI had secured an initial US$11 billion of a new round at a US$1.25 trillion valuation, with as much as US$9 billion more to come.

What it means for NZ organisations: Councils and businesses looking at New Zealand data-centre proposals can use this list as a starting point when asking about energy costs, water and disclosure.

Google picks Wyoming for a US$17 billion campus

On 5 November, Google said it'll build its first Wyoming data centre near Cheyenne in Laramie County, at a cost of US$17 billion. Most of the power will come from a 702 MW fuel-cell development contracted through AEP. Bloom Energy will supply the natural-gas fuel cells, and the captured carbon dioxide will be stored at Tallgrass's Eastern Wyoming Sequestration Hub. Google says the site will be air-cooled to ease pressure on local water, and it'll pay for all the power it uses.

What it means for NZ organisations: Hyperscalers are increasingly bringing their own power. Any large data-centre project here should expect hard questions about where its energy and water come from.

US Justice Department forms a Super Intelligence Task Force

The US Department of Justice announced a new task force on 5 November to go after people who misuse advanced AI. Its stated targets include foreign states and their proxies, transnational criminal groups, and individuals or companies using AI for fraud. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward and Associate Deputy Attorney General Stephen Weiss will lead it. The department also plans to push companies to keep strong internal controls.

What it means for NZ organisations: If you sell AI products into the US, keep clear records of how you prevent abuse of your systems. Regulators there are going to ask.

Meta shelves its website-scraping terms

Meta said on 5 November that it had indefinitely delayed changes to its commercial and advertising terms. The changes would have let it scrape websites belonging to Meta Business account holders, and they had been due on 20 November. Courts in Norway and Brazil had already granted preliminary injunctions after media groups sued, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority had opened a formal investigation. For now, Meta's current terms still apply.

What it means for NZ organisations: Read the terms attached to the ad and business platforms you use. They can claim rights over your website content.

Thinking Machines Lab close to a US$5 billion raise

Business Insider reported on 6 November that Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab was close to closing a US$5 billion round led by Accel. The round values the company at US$40 billion before the new money, up from more than US$10 billion last year. The company declined to comment, and Accel didn't respond.

What it means for NZ organisations: Investors are still funding new model labs while public AI shares fall. Keep your AI architecture flexible so you can switch between providers.