Baillie Gifford’s investment trusts could see their stakes in artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic more than double if it reaches its $2 trillion market valuation.

The company behind popular AI tool Claude is rumoured to be plotting an initial public offering (IPO), with investors supporting the company expecting it to go public in October.

The company’s supposed valuation would make it the largest IPO in history, according to the Financial Times, surpassing SpaceX, which went public at a $1.77trn valuation in June.

Broker Winterflood has predicted early investors will experience a “significant uplift,” with backers including Baillie Gifford, which holds the stock in three of its funds, according to Cityam.

The firm’s US Growth Trust will be the biggest beneficiary, holding 6.6% of its portfolio in Anthropic currently, resulting in a 7.3% uplift in the fund’s net asset value (NAV).

Its other funds will also benefit: Schiehallion, which holds 5.9% of its portfolio in Anthropic (translating to a 6.3% increase in NAV) and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMIT), which holds 2.8% of its portfolio in Anthropic (translating to a 3.2% uplift in NAV).

Tom Slater, manager at SMIT, wrote an article in April for Baillie Gifford explaining the fund’s decision to invest in Anthropic.

He cited several key factors, including managing uncertainty, identifying the company’s niche, the influence of its founder, and the culture of its workforce.

Mr Slater noted the founder’s ambition to help improve the lives of billions, a mission driven by his father’s passing, which has filtered directly through to the company’s workforce. 

He added: “That ambition carries through into Anthropic’s culture. The company has the highest employee retention among the major AI labs, despite rivals offering top talent many tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to switch. That suggests Anthropic doesn’t have a mercenary workforce.”