Anthropic IPO, Midterm Preview, and the Original Ghostbusters

Good morning. It's Tuesday, Oct. 27. Anthropic is preparing for a massive IPO next month. First time reading? Join millions of insatiably curious readers. Sign up here.

Also in today's Digest: toad venom as a new depression treatment (Sci. & Tech.), the NBA bets on prediction markets (Bus. & Mkts.), the hidden workload of American wives (In-Depth), where to find the best cinnamon rolls (Etc.), and much more. 

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 Need To Know 

First AI IPO

Anthropic filed for its IPO yesterday, with reports suggesting it could raise up to $100B at around a $2T valuation, rivaling SpaceX's $2.1T record. The maker of AI chatbot Claude is reportedly planning to debut on Nasdaq the week of Nov. 16. 

Anthropic earned $16.3B in revenue for the first half of 2026, a 1,304% increase from the year before. However, filings reveal it relies on two companies—reportedly Microsoft and SpaceX—for roughly one-fifth of its revenue. Anthropic also reported an $80.7B net loss in the first six months of 2026, up from $42B in all of 2025, though the latest figure largely reflects accounting adjustments. Roughly $9B of the company's expenses comes from the computing power and infrastructure Anthropic has been using to train frontier models. Anthropic warned the models themselves could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity," potentially exposing the company to lawsuits and regulations.

Investors appear to be treating the Anthropic IPO as a bellwether for AI confidence generally; the Nasdaq closed up 0.8% on yesterday’s news (S&P 500 +0.7%, Dow +0.3%). See Anthropic 101 here.

Early Voting Shifts

More than 30 million Americans have voted in this year's midterms so far, with Election Day one week away. In Texas, over 4 million ballots have been cast, exceeding half of the state's 2022 turnout. The figures are from the University of Florida's Election Lab; see how your state compares here.

Voting methods are also shifting, particularly in parts of the South. In Georgia, roughly 95% of early votes have been cast in person, while mail ballot requests have fallen more than 45% from 2022. North Carolina has seen a similar split, recording 1.5 million in-person votes and about 60,000 mail ballots returned. Nationally, early votes are roughly even between in-person (15.4 million) and mail (15.1 million) as of this writing.

Experts say the shift may reflect concerns about mail ballots arriving on time or being counted, as well as a return to prepandemic voting habits. A Postal Service rule in effect since December largely postmarks mail when it's processed rather than dropped off, potentially pushing some ballots past deadlines.

See the 52 races that could flip Congress here.

Ancient Seafaring Amphibian

Scientists unearthed fossils of the first-known fully marine amphibian, according to a study published yesterday. The discovery could inform conservation efforts as freshwater salinization threatens amphibians. Scroll here for renderings and fossil images.

The two nearly complete skeletons found in southwestern China date to roughly 237 million years ago, when an ocean submerged the region. The amphibian, named Gerrothorax maritimus, was roughly between 2 and 3 feet long, with a disc-shaped body covered in bony armor. Experts believe this armor may have prevented water loss through its skin, allowing it to survive in saltwater. Modern amphibians, on the other hand, depend on their skin for respiration and water intake, making them dependent on freshwater habitats. Fewer than 2% of the more than 8,000 known species tolerate saltwater to any degree. 

Researchers have recently found that rising freshwater salt levels—driven by mining, road deicers, and more—can reduce frogs' ability to fend off deadly diseases.

 In The Know 

Science & Technology

> High-resolution simulation reveals detailed view of how stars and galaxies formed in the first 2 billion years of the universe, shedding light on the cosmic dark ages (More, w/videos) | What were the dark ages? (More)

> Clinical trial suggests obscure psychedelic compound based on toad venom could help patients with difficult-to-treat depression (More) 

> AI-powered mosquito trap identifies species with 98% accuracy in lab tests, potentially helping curb mosquito-borne diseases (More, w/video) | Florida is experiencing its largest dengue outbreak in decades, with over 700 cases (More)

Business & Markets

> Microsoft offers voluntary buyouts to about 27% of its workforce, as it shifts more spending to AI infrastructure buildout (More) | Dollar General sued by Federal Trade Commission and 20 states over alleged deceptive pricing (More) 

> Brazilian markets plunge following the reelection of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; benchmark stock index posts 14% single-day loss, the worst since the COVID-19 pandemic (More) 

> NBA partners with Kalshi and Polymarket, becoming the latest major US sports league to collaborate with the prediction market industry (More) | How prediction markets compare to the stock market (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Israelis vote in their first election since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and war in Gaza; polls suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or main opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot will need to woo coalition parties to govern (More) 

> Federal judge orders the Justice Department to reinstate prosecutor Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey (More) | DOJ charges Comey for third time over allegations he shared classified information (More)

> Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee kicks off its four-day, closed-door plenum, with agenda covering party discipline and corruption (More) 

In-Depth

> Equal Pay, Unequal Chores

Pew Research | Staff. Women earn as much as or more than their husbands in nearly half of American marriages. But even when paychecks match, wives still do more housework and caregiving. See how the hours break down. (Read) 

> America's Sixth-Worst McDonald's

Washingtonian | Sylvie McNamara. Google reviewers begged the owners of a Virginia McDonald's to "shut this location down." So a reporter went to see for herself and found a restaurant run by teenagers. Was it really that bad? (Read) 

Dictionary.com proclaims "maxxing" its word of the year.

... and ranking America's most mispronounced words.

Spiders exhibit REM-like sleep, study finds; watch them twitch.

Could birdwatching slow cognitive decline? 

The best cinnamon roll in your state.

See this year's award-winning panoramic photographs.

Ever wonder how the economy works? Hear a billionaire explain.

Find Wikipedia entries about your immediate neighborhood.

Meet the winner of this year's Mama Bear Award. (scroll for video)

Clickbait: Boo, it's 17th-century ghostbusters.

Historybook: First of the Federalist Papers published (1787); President Theodore Roosevelt born (1858); New York City's first underground subway line opens (1904); Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize (1978).