Gary Marcus and Ed Zitron are among the AI doomsayers who see Anthropic’s revenue figures coming up short.
Image 1: Henrique Casinhas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Image 2: Carlos Rodrigues/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images
Anthropic’s latest revenue figures were like chum in the water for the AI doomers.
Critics pointed to the revenue figure to argue the AI boom is ending.
Anthropic is getting ready to go public in what’s expected to be a historic IPO.
Nearly $17 billion in quarterly revenue is good, right? Not if you’re the most hotly anticipated IPO candidate in recent market history, apparently.
Anthropic, which is gearing up for what’s expected to be a historic public offering, told investors this week that it made $16.8 billion last quarter . That’s a significant jump from the prior three-month period, but slower than the growth rate from the first quarter to the second— and AI doomsayers dooming harder than ever.
Market researcher publication Geiger Capital shared a graphic of Anthopic’s revenue run-rate on X, stating, “Not good enough. It’s over.”
Other prominent AI skeptics shared similar views. Gary Marcus, an AI researcher and author who has been an outspoken critic of the market’s frenzy for AI, recalled a previous Anthropic revenue forecast, implying that it seems absurd now.
Anyone remember this?
They ain’t gonna come close. https://t.co/qkPTJmmwJi
— Gary Marcus (@GaryMarcus) October 15, 2026
Marcus engaged with a user defending Anthropic, who argued that its slower Q3 growth was due to the “death of tokenmaxxing” and rising competition from Chinese open source models.
Tech founder and former US presidential candidate Andrew Yang, a fellow AI critic, highlighted the market implications of Anthropic’s newly released figures, laying out what they might mean for other tech companies.
“Anthropic’s quarterly revenue growth rate of ~45% is going to be seen as disappointing, and will put massive pressure on the AI hypergrowth story. If valuations start correcting, watch out below.”
Citrini Research, the firm that went viral in February for publishing a hypothetical doomsday scenario that triggered a stock brief stock sell-off posted, “Oh it’s over over” as Anthropic’s revenue figures made the rounds.
Ed Zitron, an independent journalist and researcher who compared OpenAI to Lehman Brothers after auditing its financials, quickly chimed in after the figures were released.
“The absolute best thing about this story is that boosters are furious Anthropic didn’t give a new magical made up run rate number,” he wrote.
Zitron has been a steadfast AI doomsayer , repeatedly predicting that the bubble will burst, with consequences that extend far beyond the stock market.
If you think @edzitron is annoying now, just wait until the bubble pops.
This is the least annoying he is ever going to be.
— Ben Horne 🇺🇸 (@benjamin_horne) October 14, 2026
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