Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company, announced on Thursday that it has raised $65 billion in private funding, increasing its valuation to $965 billion.
This staggering figure places the five-year-old creator of the Claude chatbot among the most valuable startups in the world as it prepares for a probable Wall Street debut.
In terms of market valuation and reported revenue, the announcement puts Anthropic ahead of its main competitor, ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI.
According to Anthropic, it currently generates $47 billion in revenue per year from selling its technology to individuals and businesses who use Claude to create programs and perform other professional and personal duties.
Former OpenAI executives founded Anthropic in 2021, and both AI companies—as well as SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company—are now anticipated to go public.
Concerns about an AI bubble are heightened by the fact that all three continue to lose more money than they make.
Investment firms Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Greenoaks Capital, and Sequoia Capital spearheaded the latest round of funding, according to San Francisco-based Anthropic.
In a written statement, Krishna Rao, chief financial officer at Anthropic, 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 Thursday, Anthropic also unveiled Claude Opus 4.8, its newest AI model, claiming that it is significantly more proficient at coding and other professional tasks than earlier versions.
Despite its early lead in making ChatGPT a household name that ignited a commercial AI boom, Anthropic’s explosive growth and Claude’s increasing popularity have left OpenAI playing catch-up.
After a $122 billion fundraising round, OpenAI recently reported in March that it was on track to be valued at $852 billion.
After merging with Musk’s xAI in February, SpaceX’s valuation increased from $800 billion to $1.25 trillion. Musk will, as soon as next week, be able to present the offering to investors after announcing plans for one of the largest stock sales in history.
After a weeks-long jury trial over whether the business had compromised its original nonprofit objective, a federal court last week rejected a lawsuit from Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and early donor, clearing a significant obstacle to the company’s plans for an IPO. Musk has stated he will file an appeal.
Anthropic has encountered challenges this year despite its recent success, most notably a contentious legal battle with President Donald Trump’s administration against the use of AI technologies like Claude in combat.
Following an exceptionally public spat between the Pentagon and CEO Dario Amodei, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth branded the business a supply chain risk, and Trump ordered all U.S. agencies to cease using Claude in February. Anthropic filed a lawsuit in a case that is currently pending in two federal courts.
Concurrently, Anthropic has been in discussions with the White House over the cybersecurity dangers and capabilities of its most potent model, Mythos, which is not yet publicly accessible.
Before Pope Leo XIV’s demand on Monday for strict control of AI and for its developers to prioritize the common good over profit, Anthropic also played a significant role at the Vatican.
Leo’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), was a broad proclamation that frequently denounced as dangerous the accumulation of data and power in the hands of a small number of individuals in the private sector.
