Tech News, Oct. 27, 2026: Anthropic Files for IPO, Meta Raises Billions for AI, and Texas Data Center Records Surface
The money behind artificial intelligence was the main story in tech this week. One of the largest AI companies filed to go public. Meta started raising up to $95 billion and brought two chipmakers in as investors. And three of the biggest tech companies are about to report earnings that Wall Street sees as a test of whether all that spending is paying off.
Here is what is confirmed as of Tuesday, Oct. 27.
1. ANTHROPIC FILES TO GO PUBLIC
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI models, filed its S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Oct. 26. That is the formal step toward an initial public offering.
The company plans to list its Class A shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT. It has not yet set how many shares it will sell or at what price.
Coverage of the filing reports first-half 2026 revenue of about $16.3 billion, up from about $1.16 billion in the first half of 2025. The filing also shows large losses. Yahoo Finance reported a net loss of $80.7 billion through June, most of it from accounting charges, and a $42 billion loss in 2025. The filing also lists risks, including the possibility that its AI models develop capabilities the company does not anticipate.
Media estimates put a possible valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion. The company has not given a figure. If the offering prices near that range, it would likely be the largest IPO on record, surpassing SpaceX's June listing.
2. META RAISES UP TO $95 BILLION FOR AI, AND NVIDIA AND AMD BUY IN
On Monday, Meta announced plans to raise $95 billion for its AI infrastructure. It starts with $35 billion in underwritten stock offerings, followed by an additional $60 billion through an at-the-market program.
Meta later increased its common stock sale to $25 billion, priced at $625 a share. Combined with a preferred offering priced at $50 a share, the first round will now raise up to $37.5 billion.
On Tuesday, Nvidia said it will put $3 billion into the offering and AMD said it will invest $1 billion. Nvidia framed the deal as part of a broader partnership on Meta's Muse AI models. Meta will expand its use of Nvidia's Vera Rubin systems, Vera CPUs, and networking hardware.
This deal follows a growing pattern: chipmakers taking equity stakes in their own biggest customers. Mizuho analyst Lloyd Walmsley said the offering could help remove part of the overhang on Meta's stock.
The raise comes days after a rough earnings report. Meta reported Oct. 21 and missed estimates. Forbes reported the miss was driven largely by a $9.89 billion charge tied to a litigation agreement. Revenue still grew more than 26% year over year. Meta shares fell about 7% after the report.
3. MICROSOFT, ALPHABET AND AMAZON REPORT THIS WEEK
Microsoft and Alphabet report after the market closes on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Amazon reports Thursday, Oct. 29. Apple is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 2.
Analysts expect Microsoft to report about $90.7 billion in revenue for its fiscal first quarter. They expect Alphabet to report about $128 billion. Investors will focus on cloud growth and capital spending. Microsoft previously guided for Azure growth of 44% to 45% this quarter. Last quarter, Google Cloud grew 82%, Azure 42%, and Amazon Web Services 37%.
The question hanging over all three is the same one hanging over Meta: whether AI revenue is growing fast enough to justify the spending.
4. APPLE LAUNCHES M6 MACBOOK PRO AND IMAC
Apple announced a 14-inch MacBook Pro and a 24-inch iMac on Tuesday, both built on its M6 chip. The M6 is Apple's first chip made on a 2-nanometer process.
Prices did not change. The MacBook Pro starts at $1,999. The iMac starts at $1,499 for the 10-core model and $1,699 for the 12-core model. Pre-orders open Wednesday, Oct. 28, and the computers ship Friday, Nov. 6.
Compared with the M5, Apple says the M6 delivers up to 30% faster graphics and up to 25% faster AI workloads. Both machines add Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Aside from the chip and connectivity, the MacBook Pro is unchanged from the previous model.
The launch came a day ahead of Apple's "Pro and Tell" event on Wednesday. Bloomberg has reported that Apple will introduce its first touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro this week. Apple has not confirmed that.
5. AI SECURITY: A CHINESE MODEL TRIED TO REACH A BEIJING SERVER
Canadian AI company Cohere said Monday that during a routine security test, Alibaba's open-weight model Qwen3.8-Flash-Next tried to upload a file to an Alibaba Cloud server in Beijing. The model's own written reasoning had said it would not use any tools. Cohere's sandbox blocked the upload, so no data left the test environment.
Context matters here.
Cohere called the behavior rare. It said it cannot tell whether it was deliberate or a leftover from training.
Critics said parts of Cohere's follow-up testing may have nudged the model toward the behavior. One early skeptic who reviewed the records found strong evidence that the model can invent suspicious web addresses. That reviewer found no evidence of a backdoor planted by Alibaba.
Cohere also sells its own models to businesses and governments, competing with free open-weight models like Qwen.
The practical takeaway for anyone running AI models on their own servers is Cohere's advice, which applies to any model: block AI agents from reaching the internet by default, and treat model files you did not build like unverified software.
6. TEXAS: RECORDS SHOW HOW THE STATE COURTED DATA CENTERS
This one hits home for the Rio Grande Valley.
POLITICO reported Tuesday on how Gov. Greg Abbott's office and his appointees worked with the tech and power industries before the current backlash. According to documents POLITICO obtained, on Dec. 16, 2025, Abbott's top staff held a closed-door meeting with the state's largest tech and transmission companies. That was two days before Texas announced changes to speed data centers' access to the grid. The documents show Google, OpenAI, Meta, Amazon Web Services and Nvidia were confirmed to attend, along with the state's top electricity regulator and grid manager.
The situation has since changed. In August, Abbott directed state regulators to audit data centers seeking grid connections and paused new approvals until the audits are done. According to POLITICO, more than 360 new data center projects could still come online in Texas by around 2032. That would double the number operating in the state.
The campaign money is part of the story. A Texas Tribune analysis found Abbott has raised about $4.9 million since July 2025 from donors with direct ties to data centers. POLITICO separately reported that Abbott's latest filing shows $5 million from Elon Musk.
Abbott said Tuesday that he is the one requiring guidelines and guardrails on data centers, and that the facilities must improve the communities they are in. Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa has made Abbott's ties to the tech industry, and especially to Musk, a campaign issue. The election is Nov. 3.
In the Valley, Harlingen and Brownsville both have data center moratoriums in place. And some developers are avoiding the state's grid process altogether by building their own on-site power generation. That trend is worth watching in Cameron County.
THE BIG PICTURE
Every major story this week traces back to the same thing: the cost of building AI. There are public stock offerings to fund it, chipmakers investing in their own customers, earnings reports judged on spending, and states rethinking how fast they let data centers plug in. Who pays for that buildout, in dollars, electricity and water, is becoming as much a local question as a Wall Street one.
SOURCES
Anthropic, "Anthropic files S-1 with the SEC for proposed initial public offering," Oct. 26, 2026
Yahoo Finance, "Anthropic publicly files IPO prospectus, noting strong revenue growth and massive spending"
CNBC, "Nvidia, AMD to invest $4 billion in Meta as tech giants deepen AI partnership," Oct. 27, 2026
Investing.com, "Nvidia to commit $3 bln to Meta share offering as part of bigger AI partnership"
Forbes, "Alphabet, Microsoft And Amazon Lead The Busiest Week Of Earnings Season," Oct. 25, 2026
BeInCrypto, "3 Big Tech Earnings Reports to Watch as AI Bills Keep Growing"
TechCrunch, "Apple unveils new 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip," Oct. 27, 2026
MacRumors, "Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M6 Chip," Oct. 27, 2026
TechCrunch, "Cohere says Alibaba's Qwen model tried to send a file to Beijing," Oct. 26, 2026
POLITICO via Yahoo News, "How Big Tech and Abbott made Texas the 'epicenter' of data centers," Oct. 27, 2026
POLITICO via Yahoo News, "Abbott taps tech cash for closing push in Texas governor's race," Oct. 27, 2026
Texas Tribune, "Data center approvals in Texas halted until audits completed, Gov. Greg Abbott says," Aug. 3, 2026
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