Anthropic IPO, Holiday Shipping, & a Cheetah Cub Cam

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Adam Rogers
October 27, 2026

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AI company Anthropic filed paperwork Monday for an initial public offering that could raise up to $100 billion, potentially making it the largest stock market debut in history.
The maker of Claude plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, possibly as soon as November. Private investors valued Anthropic at $965 billion earlier this year, but estimates for its public valuation now range from $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion. Despite rapid revenue growth, the company reported an $80.7 billion net loss in the first half of 2026, largely driven by accounting adjustments tied to its financing.
The filing also outlines an unusual leadership structure intended to preserve Anthropic's commitment to AI safety as it faces pressure to generate profits. Its seven founders will retain 50.1% of shareholder voting power, and an independent trust will appoint a majority of the board to help ensure public safety remains a priority.

Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey met Iranian leaders in Tehran Monday to try to prevent renewed fighting between Iran and the United States and Israel. The four countries agreed to continue discussions on regional peace and security but announced no specific new security agreement.
The delegations are trying to revive negotiations that previously linked safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz to an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. A June agreement also called for broader talks over Iran’s nuclear program but unraveled as both sides resumed attacks. Monday’s discussions included Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia and the conflict in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia sent its defense minister while Pakistan and Turkey sent their army and intelligence chiefs. Their meetings with Iran’s president and senior security officials followed a separate visit Sunday by Qatari mediators coordinating with Washington.

U.S. retailers face record holiday delivery prices as UPS and FedEx fuel surcharges approach 30% of base shipping rates. An industry index forecasts ground-delivery prices 5.8% above last year and express prices 13.8% higher during the fourth quarter.
Diesel prices have surged, but carriers also changed how they calculate fuel fees. Those changes mean cheaper fuel would no longer bring the same relief: at diesel’s early-2021 price of $2.91 a gallon, the index’s surcharge would now be 23.75% rather than 7.75%. Retailers therefore face higher costs even if fuel prices retreat.
Retailers can seek cheaper carriers, but moving some packages may raise the cost of those left behind by reducing volume discounts. That makes switching less attractive when holiday arrangements are already set and could leave stores passing higher shipping costs to shoppers through product prices or delivery charges.

Florida officials plan to sink the SS United States during November’s second week to create the world’s largest artificial reef about 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin. (More)

Election observers are preparing an unusually large monitoring effort for November 3 as the Justice Department plans to deploy about 1,000 staff and both parties organize poll watchers. (More)

A federal judge ruled that the Justice Department unlawfully fired prosecutor Maurene Comey and ordered retroactive reinstatement and back pay covering the period before she took another job. (More)

Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law Monday after a shootout over Friday’s church attack that killed nine people during a funeral service. (More)

Attackers killed a nurse and injured another health worker responding to an Ebola case in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as violence continued to disrupt the outbreak response. (More)

Japanese prosecutors charged U.S. Marine Devin Jacob Ballard with robbery and murder in the death of a woman in Okinawa; he denies the allegations. (More)

U.S. stock markets closed higher on Monday (S&P +0.70%, Nasdaq +0.82%, Dow +0.28%). Semiconductor and AI stocks drove the rally. (More)

EQT agreed to buy Range Resources in a roughly $13 billion stock deal that would create America’s largest natural-gas producer as demand grows from exports and electricity generation. (More)

The FTC and 20 states sued Dollar General Monday alleging it routinely charged shoppers more at checkout than advertised on shelves and failed to fix problems that cost consumers millions. (More)

The Golden State Valkyries beat Atlanta 64–55 Monday to take a 3–2 WNBA Finals lead and move one win from their first championship. (More)

Actor Walter Koenig died Sunday at 90, his representative confirmed Monday; he was known for playing navigator Pavel Chekov in the original “Star Trek” series and subsequent films. (More)

Chris Brown received an eight-month prison sentence suspended for one year Monday after pleading guilty to a public-order offense over a 2023 bottle attack on a producer at a London nightclub. (More)

Engineers tested a three-dimensional thermal cloak that guides heat around objects to conceal their infrared signatures and could eventually protect sensitive electronics from extreme temperatures. (More)

Researchers reconstructed a Chinese eclipse from 709 BCE after correcting the ancient observation site’s location to refine estimates of how quickly Earth rotated more than 2,700 years ago. (More)

Scientists identified a giant fungus in China that reaches about 20 inches tall and nearly five pounds and belongs to a lineage estimated to have emerged after the dinosaurs’ extinction. (More)

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