Bound to the Mast: The Ropes Anthropic Tied Before Its $1.4 Trillion IPO
with UniverSe · Big Tech · Seoul, November 13, 2026 In this story A Strange Line in a Prospectus The Sailor Who Asked to Be Tied The Song the Market Sings Rope One: Words Rope Two: People Rope Three: Votes The Captain Hears the Song Too Fellow Passengers A Question Left Open A Strange Line in a Prospectus An IPO prospectus is a document about selling shares. It is usually full of share counts, price ranges and risk factors. Anthropic's prospectus, filed with U.S. regulators this month, also contains a line about its purpose: the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity. Reading it in Seoul, I was reminded of a sailor from a story almost three thousand years old. The Sailor Who Asked to Be Tied In Book 12 of Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus must sail past the Sirens, whose song lures sailors onto the rocks. He wants to hear the song. So he has his crew plug their ears with wax. He has himself tied to the mast. And he ord...