Anthropic Warns in IPO Filing That Unfavorable Media Coverage of AI Could “Adversely Affect” Its Business

Anthropic, one of the two biggest artificial intelligence labs (alongside OpenAI) filed to go public Monday morning, and alongside platitudes about the wondrous potential of the technology (curing disease that has vexed humanity for centuries!) and the terrifying downside possibilities (“catastrophic or existential risks to humanity”), it warned of the looming threat of the media to its ongoing business.

The company, founded by Dario Amodei, is one of the leading frontier labs developing AI tech, but as the company noted in its S-1 filing with the SEC Monday, the public perception of it may pose a serious threat to its ability to continue operating. The filing also noted the risks posed by copyright law, as well as the company’s priorities, including a section that calls out a divergence from OpenAI that may be relevant to Hollywood.

But it is the threats of negative media coverage that comes up again and again in the filing, with the risk factors section spelling it out most clearly:

“As our business has grown and as interest in us and the AI industry overall has increased, we have attracted, and may continue to attract, significant media coverage, public commentary, and scrutiny from time to time. This coverage and commentary have included, and we expect will continue to include, recurring narratives concerning the potential adverse societal impacts of AI, including that AI may displace or eliminate jobs, may be misused or otherwise cause harm, and may pose catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” the filing states.

“Negative media coverage, including public figures making negative or threatening statements about our company, whether accurate or not, could also adversely affect our brand and reputation and may reduce market acceptance of our models, platform, and applications or impair our ability to attract and retain customers,” it adds. “As public awareness of our brand increases, any issues that draw media attention may have an amplified adverse effect on our reputation. If unfavorable media coverage or adverse public perceptions persist or intensify, the demand for our models, platform, and applications could decline and our brand, business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.”

As for Hollywood, the litigation threat around copyrighted works remains top of mind for the company, which listed all of the lawsuits and threat letters related to books, films, music and other copyright holders, with the company noting that it may require them to acquire a license to the material, which they may or may not be able to secure. The legal landscape around AI and IP remains deeply uncertain.

“In each of the actions, we believe we have meritorious defenses and dispute any allegation of wrongdoing,” the company wrote. “Legal proceedings related to these matters can have an adverse effect on us because of defense and settlement costs individually and in the aggregate, diversion of management resources, and other factors.”

And then there’s the video element. There are a swarm of startups looking to use the technology to transform entertainment, but Anthropic, unlike SpaceX and OpenAI, has never spent resources on video or image models. The company notes as much in its filing:

“Every research project must ultimately advance our mission. This focus also guides what we choose not to pursue,” it says. “For example, we do not currently focus on developing video and image generation models, despite their commercial appeal. That compute instead goes to coding, agentic skills, and safety research—a research decision that has also aided the capital efficiency of our models.”

Also unlike OpenAI or SpaceX, Anthropic does not have an advertising business, and while it does spend some on ads (like at the Super Bowl) it is hardly a major player. The company disclosed $147 million in advertising spend in 2025, with marketing and advertising expenses rising by $273 million in the first half of this year “reflecting higher media spend to support product launches.”