Elon Musk said Anthropic is “obviously” the current leader in artificial intelligence, offering rare praise for a rival as the Claude developer prepares for a possible U.S. IPO after a funding round that valued the company at about $965 billion.
Elon Musk Praises Anthropic After Earlier Criticism
Musk made the comments on X in response to a post discussing competition among top AI companies and Anthropic’s reliance on compute. He said, “I was clearly wrong about Anthropic. They are obviously currently the leader in AI.”
He added that “No company has released a model as good as Mythos/Fable” and said Anthropic would “undoubtedly have Mythos 2 ready soon.” Musk did not provide technical details behind his claim, and Anthropic has not issued a new public response to his comments.
Source: X
The statement marked a sharp change from Musk’s earlier tone toward Anthropic. In a 2025 reply, he said, “Winning was never in the set of possible outcomes for Anthropic.” His latest post said he would not cut off a competitor in a way that would harm it, adding, “That’s not my style.”
Musk compared that position with Tesla opening its patents, making the Supercharger network available to competitors, and SpaceX launching rival satellite systems without higher prices or unfair terms. He also said, “Even my worst enemies can attack me on this platform.”
Anthropic IPO Plans Draw Investor Attention
Anthropic confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO in June, weeks after securing funding that valued the company at about $965 billion. Bloomberg previously reported strong investor interest in large AI listings as demand for model developers and compute infrastructure continues to rise.
The potential listing could put Anthropic in public markets before some of its largest rivals. The company was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI executives, including CEO Dario Amodei, and has grown through its Claude family of AI models.
Anthropic’s recent growth has been tied to demand from software developers and enterprise customers. Claude Code has gained traction in Silicon Valley, while Claude Opus 4.5 drew attention for coding and reasoning tasks.
The company has also expanded beyond developer tools. Claude Cowork was designed for business users who want to automate research, writing, and workplace tasks, helping Anthropic compete more directly with OpenAI, Google, and Musk’s AI companies.
Ex-Fed Chair Bernanke Joins Anthropic Oversight Trust
Anthropic has also named former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke to its Long-Term Benefit Trust. The trust was created in 2023 to help oversee Anthropic’s governance and board appointments.
Bernanke, a 2022 Nobel laureate in economics, is expected to advise on how advanced AI could affect jobs, markets, and economic stability. His appointment adds economic policy experience to Anthropic’s oversight structure as the company prepares for larger public and regulatory scrutiny.
The trust is separate from day-to-day product development, but it plays a role in Anthropic’s governance model. The company has framed the structure as part of its effort to build AI systems with long-term public interest in mind.
