One quotation has rattled around in my head for a while, which I first heard from early Anthropic investor Jaan Tallinn: “The future of the world will be decided by a group of people who fit in an elevator.” The enigmatic billionaire said on a podcast earlier this year that a friend had used the illustration to describe the concentration of power at the leading AI companies.

I’ve been reflecting on it as Anthropic prepares for its Wall Street debut because the company’s small group of powerful insiders, who are set to realize incredible wealth at unprecedented speed, face their biggest test in explaining themselves to the world outside their elevator. To raise the money Anthropic leaders need, and to keep raising it again and again, big fund managers need to fully buy in.