The Joe Rogan Experience Fan Podcast

Episode: IBM and Anthropic Strengthen Ties With $190M AI Initiative

Host: Jaden Schaefer

Date: December 5, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Jaden Schaefer unpacks the latest moves by Anthropic, focusing on its $200 million multi-year partnership with Snowflake, IPO preparations, and a broader strategy shift toward serving enterprise businesses rather than individual users. The episode contextualizes recent developments with Anthropic’s AI model, Claude, and its growing presence in the enterprise market, drawing comparisons to OpenAI’s approaches and discussing what these moves mean for the future of AI company IPOs and deployment in business environments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anthropic’s IPO Preparations

Timestamp: 02:00–05:30

• IPO Timeline & Legal Preparations
  • Anthropic is preparing for a potential IPO as early as 2026.
  • Hired Wilson Sonsini, a law firm closely associated with tech IPOs, to spearhead this process.
• Valuation Context
  • Anthropic's last funding round raised $13 billion at a $183 billion valuation.
  • Current fundraising could push the valuation to ~$300 billion.
  • OpenAI’s valuation is higher (~$500 billion), but Anthropic is narrowing the gap.
• Market Strategy
  • Anthropic seems incentivized to IPO before OpenAI; OpenAI may prefer Anthropic to go first, possibly to gauge market appetite for large AI IPOs.

Quote:

“It feels like the first step. I think it’s in Anthropic's best interest to try to front run and do the first IPO... OpenAI probably wants Anthropic to go first as well, because they want to see how it goes.”
— Jaden Schaefer [03:10]

2. The $200 Million Snowflake Deal

Timestamp: 05:30–11:30

• Multi-year Nature & Strategic Value
  • A multi-year, $200M deal making Anthropic the backbone of Snowflake’s enterprise AI offering.
  • Purpose: To lock in long-term revenue and boost IPO metrics by showcasing committed, recurring contracts.
• Benefits for Both Sides
  • Snowflake customers gain direct access to Anthropic’s Claude models, specifically Opus 4.5 and Sonnet 4.5, enabling high-quality, context-aware enterprise AI.
  • Anthropic secures usage traction and credibility in the enterprise market.

Quote:

“Anthropic joins a very select group of partners where we have nine-figure alignment, co-innovation at the product level, and a proven track record of executing together for customers worldwide.” — Sridhar Ramaswamy, Snowflake CEO (paraphrased by host) [07:45]

• Product Integration
  • The core offering: Claude will power 'Snowflake Intelligence,’ the platform’s cloud enterprise AI service.
  • Clients will be able to run multimodal data analysis and build custom AI agents atop their own business data.

Quote:

“Enterprises have spent years building secure, trusted data environments and now they want AI that can work within those environments without compromise. This partnership brings Claude directly into Snowflake where that data already lives.”
— Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO (paraphrased by host) [09:30]

3. Claude Model Upgrades: Real-World Impact

Timestamp: 11:30–15:00

• Improvements in Claude Opus 4.5
  • The latest 4.5 update to Claude models yields a noticeable jump in tool-building capability and quality for both Anthropic’s customers and the host’s own company, AI Box.

Quote:

“When we upgraded from Opus 4 to Opus 4.5... literally the quality of our tools increased like 20%. Not just the response, but how they’re built—they’re built smarter.”
— Jaden Schaefer [12:30]

• Broader implication
  • The host underscores that advances in the underlying AI model translate directly into better outputs and higher quality for enterprise tools and agents, reinforcing the importance of continual model upgrades.

4. Anthropic’s Enterprise-Centric Growth Strategy

Timestamp: 15:00–19:00

• Business Users vs. Mass-Market Users
  • Anthropic is doubling down on enterprise clients (ex: Deloitte, IBM), carving out a niche where OpenAI focuses on massive user counts.
  • Noted deals:
    • Deloitte: Anthropic’s Claude now default among 500,000+ employees.
    • IBM: Integration of Claude models into IBM software.
• Developer Preference
  • Cites July 2025 Menlo Ventures survey, reporting that “employees preferred Anthropic’s AI products over those by Google and OpenAI.”

Quote:

“Their models are very popular... inside organizations. This is a very popular model for developers. They found their niche, they’re carving it out... They're not just another AI model trying to compete directly with OpenAI.”
— Jaden Schaefer [17:25]

5. IPO Outlook and Closing Thoughts

Timestamp: 19:00–20:00

• Positioning for IPO
  • Anthropic’s enterprise deal pipeline and model quality positions it uniquely for a strong IPO.
  • The host predicts an exciting public debut, given Anthropic’s specialized focus and deep enterprise integration.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “OpenAI is probably going to come out and do their IPO and then they'll top Anthropic... But I think Anthropic is incentivized to go first.” [03:00]
• “It’s typical; these big announcements, even if the payment is over several years, are designed to give Anthropic leverage for its IPO.” [06:30]
• “With every model upgrade, the downstream tools are smarter. Not just better at responses, but better at building things intelligently.” [13:10]
• “Anthropic really seems to be focusing on more of that target audience... developers want to use Claude because it can look at your whole code base.” [15:30]

Structuring and Flow

Each segment logically flows from Anthropic’s strategic groundwork for IPO, to its game-changing deals, to commentary on model upgrades, and concludes with an analysis of market positioning. The episode is conversational, enthusiastic, and packed with both context and firsthand insights (as the host is actively building AI tools).

Summary Table of Major Segments

| Segment | Key Topic | Notable Quote | Timestamp | |---------|-----------|---------------|-----------| | 1 | Anthropic IPO & Funding | “First step... in Anthropic's best interest to front run...” | 03:10 | | 2 | Snowflake $200M Deal | “Anthropic joins a very select group of partners...” | 07:45 | | 3 | Model Upgrades | “The quality of our tools increased like 20%.” | 12:30 | | 4 | Enterprise vs. Mass User | “They’re finding their niche... Not just another AI model.” | 17:25 |

Takeaway

The episode delivers an in-depth look at Anthropic’s recent business developments, providing clarity on why enterprise strategy and model enhancements are setting Anthropic apart in the fast-evolving AI sector, and why 2026 could be a banner year for AI company IPOs.