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Artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced on Thursday that it has raised $65 billion in private funding, elevating its valuation to $965 billion.
This remarkable figure positions the five-year-old creator of the Claude chatbot among the world's most valuable startups as it approaches a potential public offering. This announcement propels Anthropic ahead of its primary competitor, OpenAI, in both market value and reported revenue. Anthropic has indicated that it is now generating annualized revenue of $47 billion by providing its technology to users leveraging Claude for coding and various work and personal tasks.
Founded in 2021 by former leaders of OpenAI, Anthropic, along with OpenAI and SpaceX, is expected to become publicly traded soon. Despite their rising valuations, all three companies continue to incur more losses than profits, raising concerns about a potential AI bubble.Based in San Francisco, Anthropic revealed that the funding round was led by prominent investment firms including Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Greenoaks Capital, and Sequoia Capital.
Krishna Rao, Anthropic's chief financial officer, stated, “This funding will help us serve the historic demand we are experiencing, stay at the research frontier, and bring Claude to more of the places where work happens.”
On the same day, Anthropic launched its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4.8, which boasts enhanced capabilities in coding and professional tasks compared to earlier versions.
Anthropic's rapid growth and Claude's increasing popularity have left OpenAI striving to catch up, despite its early success in making ChatGPT a widely recognized name that initiated a commercial AI boom.
In March, OpenAI reported a valuation of $852 billion following a $122 billion fundraising round. SpaceX's valuation increased from $800 billion last year to $1.25 trillion after merging with Musk's xAI in February. Musk is preparing for a significant stock sale, which he will present to investors next week.
OpenAI has also cleared a significant hurdle in its initial public offering plans after a federal court dismissed a lawsuit from Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, regarding claims that the company had deviated from its original nonprofit mission. Musk has indicated plans to appeal the court's decision.
Despite its recent achievements, Anthropic has encountered challenges this year, including a contentious legal battle with the administration of former President Donald Trump over the application of AI tools like Claude in military contexts. In February, Trump mandated that U.S. agencies cease using Claude, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth identified the company as a supply chain risk following a public dispute with CEO Dario Amodei. Anthropic has initiated legal action in response, and the case is currently in progress across two federal courts.
Concurrently, Anthropic has engaged in discussions with the White House regarding the cybersecurity implications and risks associated with its powerful model, Mythos, which remains largely unavailable to the public.
Anthropic also played a significant role at the Vatican ahead of Pope Leo XIV's recent call for comprehensive AI regulation, emphasizing that developers should prioritize the common good over profit.
The encyclical titled “Magnifica Humanitas” criticizes the concentration of power and data within a small number of private entities, labeling it a significant threat.
