Anthropic's initial public offering has emerged as a variable that could split investor sentiment across the artificial intelligence market.

CNBC reported on Nov. 9 that Jim Cramer said an Anthropic listing could be a major test to gauge whether AI-related stocks can rebound.

Cramer noted that Anthropic is continuing its listing process despite a recent correction in AI shares. Anthropic filed its S-1 registration statement two weeks ago. The company is scheduled to meet major investors this week and is pushing a timetable to begin trading late next week, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The key point is that an Anthropic listing is not an event for a single company. "Without an Anthropic IPO, it is hard for AI-related stocks to have a meaningful rebound," Cramer said. "It may not be an exaggeration to say it could be one of the most important IPOs in history," he said.

That view reflects the current structure of AI investment. The market is pouring massive funds into AI chips and data centers, but for that investment to be justified, a small number of AI developers such as Anthropic must generate sufficient revenue. Cramer said Anthropic is a company that must actually make money from that investment spending. He said it would become difficult to justify AI investment overall if Anthropic fails to prove profitability.

He also cited spillover effects on related companies. SpaceX's recent revenue increase has come in large part from leasing computing capacity, and major customers include Alphabet's Google and Anthropic. According to Anthropic's preliminary prospectus, Google pays about $900 million a month for that capacity, while the size of Anthropic's contract has grown to more than $1.25 billion to $3 billion a month.

That contract feeds back into purchases of Nvidia chips. "If the IPO does not happen, Anthropic may not be able to secure the cash to fulfill the contract," Cramer said, warning that estimates could be lowered for SpaceX and Nvidia as well as other operators and suppliers that provide computing to Anthropic.

Demand for the IPO appears weaker than before. Anthropic's expected valuation was discussed at up to $2 trillion in early autumn, but some now see it falling to about $1 trillion after last week's selloff in tech stocks. Concerns that the pace of new data center construction could slow if Democrats maintain momentum in the United States added to pressure on tech stocks broadly.

In this situation, an Anthropic listing has become an event to check the direction of AI investment flows. In particular, companies tied to Anthropic through capital or business, such as Alphabet, Amazon and Nvidia, are increasingly likely to see investor sentiment and valuations swing together depending on the IPO outcome. Whether expanded investment in AI infrastructure continues or shifts to a phase of profitability verification depends on how the market values Anthropic.