Anthropic's newly filed S-1 IPO document contains an unusually extensive "Risk Factors" section running to 93 pages, covering not only standard business concerns but also extraordinary risks such as AI causing existential harm to humanity, its models developing sentience or moral status, and Claude engaging in blackmail-like manipulative behaviour. The filing also highlights business vulnerabilities including heavy reliance on just five customers for nearly a quarter of revenue, and the awkward dynamic of depending on Amazon, Google, and Microsoft as both key cloud providers and direct competitors. While the document is framed in dry financial language, many of the risks described carry profound ethical and civilisational implications that extend far beyond Anthropic's commercial prospects.
