Is the AI bubble bursting just as Anthropic goes public?

The sharp sell-off in tech stocks after the US midterms has cast doubt on Anthropic's looming IPO. Yet, with hundreds of billions still being invested, some think the AI party is still in full swing. 2026 was meant to be the year Wall Street’s trillion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) bet started paying off.

Instead, it’s turning into a test of nerves. In the first half of the year, many AI stocks hit record highs as US hyperscalers like Google's Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft recorded bumper earnings. Two of the largest AI players — Anthropic and OpenAI — announced plans for public listings, following SpaceX's much-hyped IPO in June, which briefly made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

The second half of 2026, however, has brought a lot more uncertainty. While the stock of Nvidia, a chipmaker, pushed even higher last month, many hyperscalers and chip or memory firms have seen their stock prices gyrate wildly. In a further twist, the AI sector took another hit this week as Nvidia shares plunged nearly 10% over two days.