Anthropic $2tr float the ultimate AI test; DJs under pressure; dementia causes 10pc of deaths
Published: October 27, 2026
Anthropic $2tr float the ultimate AI test; DJs under pressure; dementia causes 10pc of deaths
News in brief
DJs pressure: Department store David Jones is reportedly facing serious financial pressure after breaching a condition of its lending agreement. According to the AFR, lender Hilco Global has the right to take control, although it says it remains supportive. The retailer has also lost concessions from brands including Country Road, Witchery and Mimco.
Chalmers unveils CGT changes: Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced further changes to capital gains tax rules, including new concessions for early investors in innovative start-ups.
Dementia now causes one in ten deaths: Dementia accounted for more than ten per cent of Australian deaths in 2025 for the first time, claiming just over 19,000 lives. Its share has almost doubled in two decades.
Sheep flock hits century low: Australia's sheep population has fallen to around 66 million, its lowest level in a century, according to Rabobank. High costs, labour shortages and seasonal uncertainty are discouraging farmers from rebuilding flocks, despite strong global demand.
Microsoft offers buyouts to 60,000 employees: Microsoft is offering voluntary redundancy packages to as many as 60,000 employees across several countries as it seeks to contain costs while investing heavily in artificial intelligence. The program covers divisions including Xbox, Windows and Copilot, and follows an earlier voluntary retirement scheme for longer-serving employees.
Fear-o-meter
eToro's Josh Gilbert on Anthropic:
Anthropic has finally let investors look under the bonnet. As it turns out, the engine is as powerful as the hype suggested, but so is the fuel bill. Revenue of USD$16.3 billion in the first half was around 14 times the same period last year, which shows Anthropic can turn the huge appetite for AI into serious revenue, and the focus now shifts to whether that growth can keep pace with the compute commitments it has already signed.
The most encouraging part of the filing is compute spend, which has fallen to around 55% of revenue from roughly 200% a year earlier, helping Anthropic swing to an adjusted operating profit. That’s key, because it’s the first hard evidence from a frontier AI lab that the economics can work at scale.
The eye-watering USD$80.7 billion net loss looks scary on paper, but most of it is a non-cash accounting charge tied to the company’s own soaring valuation, so it says more about how much Anthropic is now worth than it does about how much cash it’s burning.
The pace of growth is starting to ease, albeit from extraordinary heights, with third-quarter revenue up roughly 45% on the previous quarter after more than doubling in the second. That was always going to happen at this scale, so what matters for investors now is how quickly it slows from here.
The existential AI warnings in the prospectus will leave some question marks for investors, and Anthropic hasn’t been shy about spelling out the risks, warning that its models could go off and act in ways nobody asked them to, and that holding back new releases on safety grounds could let rivals edge ahead.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On how some Australian businesses are continuing to invest and innovate, despite growing pressures:
"As I talk to customers and what we're hearing really everywhere across the country is the impact on cash flow tied to rising input costs. That's where we've really seen the pressure, that costs continue to rise, and of course that has a very significant impact on margins for businesses.
And so business owners, particularly small business owners, are being very resilient. They're keeping a close eye on cash flow, they're monitoring their costs, and most importantly, they're staying close to their customers and responding to what they're hearing from their customers.
And notwithstanding all of that, we have many businesses that are getting on with it and having real success in this environment, whether it's adopting AI, finding really innovative ways to manage costs with some really incredible leaps forward in technology, or really just looking at the environment and finding those opportunities. We have customers that are expanding globally, that are setting up businesses in the US, that are really having all kinds of success."
Anthropic's $US2 trillion float puts the AI boom to the test
Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic is targeting wealthy Australian investors as it prepares for what could become the biggest sharemarket float in history.
The company behind Claude is seeking to raise more than $US100 billion, at a potential valuation of $US2 trillion, eclipsing SpaceX's recent float.
Its 355-page prospectus reveals extraordinary growth, with quarterly revenue surging almost 1,400 per cent from a year earlier. But Anthropic also reported losses of $US80.7 billion in the first half of 2026, largely reflecting accounting adjustments.
The prospectus also highlights significant risks, including growing public opposition to data centres, dependence on major technology companies for distribution, and the potential dangers of advanced AI systems.
The float will be a major test of investor confidence. A successful listing could reinforce enthusiasm for AI companies, while disappointing demand could raise fresh questions about the enormous valuations attached to the sector.
Greed-o-meter
| Rank | State or territory | Change from 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Australia | — |
| 2 | Tasmania | — |
| 3 | ACT | ↑ 1 |
| 4 | Northern Territory | ↓ 1 |
| 5 | New South Wales | — |
| 6 | Queensland | — |
| 7 | Western Australia | — |
| 8 | Victoria | — |
Source: Business Council of Australia, Regulation Rumble 2026.
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The best place in Australia to do business? South Australia, according to the Business Council of Australia, which has ranked the state first for the fourth consecutive year. Victoria finished last again, held back by relatively high business taxes and regulatory requirements. The Council's annual Regulation Rumble compares the states and territories on everything from payroll taxes and business licences to planning approvals and retail trading hours.