AI startup Anthropic is nearing the completion of a record-breaking mega funding round. According to sources familiar with the matter, the deal could close as early as next week, with the fundraising expected to exceed $30 billion, potentially pushing the company’s valuation beyond $900 billion. Should the deal be finalized, Anthropic — founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees — would surpass OpenAI to become the highest-valued AI startup in the world.
The round is expected to be co-led by several top-tier investment firms, including Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Altimeter Capital, and Greenoaks Capital, each planning to invest approximately $2 billion. Existing shareholders, including Founders Fund and General Catalyst, also intend to participate. Sources say market demand has been exceptionally strong, with the actual fundraising amount already exceeding Anthropic’s initial target of $30 billion. However, agreements are still being finalized, and terms may change.
Powered by its Claude series of AI models, Anthropic has rapidly expanded its market presence in areas such as AI coding, enterprise automation, and cybersecurity. It is now widely regarded as one of the most competitive large model companies globally, alongside OpenAI. With surging enterprise demand for AI, its financial performance has grown quickly. The company projects second-quarter revenue of $10.9 billion, doubling from the previous quarter, and expects to achieve its first profitable quarter. Anthropic has also told investors that its annualized revenue is expected to exceed $50 billion by the end of next month, up from just $4 billion in July last year.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company’s annualized revenue and usage in the first quarter grew 80-fold year-over-year, with demand far exceeding expectations. He added that the company is expanding its computing capacity “as fast as possible.” To that end, Anthropic has signed several large-scale computing cooperation agreements, including a nearly $45 billion partnership with SpaceX and an $1.8 billion deal with Akamai Technologies. At the same time, the company makes extensive use of AI chips and cloud computing resources provided by Google (GOOG, GOOGL).
Notably, Anthropic has also begun seeking direct financing support from some of its suppliers. Google has already committed to investing $10 billion in Anthropic at a $350 billion valuation, with the option to invest an additional $30 billion if certain performance targets are met. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN) has announced a $5 billion investment at the same valuation, with plans to invest up to an additional $20 billion in the future. It remains unclear whether the two tech giants will participate in this new funding round. In comparison, OpenAI’s most recent funding round closed in March of this year at a valuation of approximately $852 billion, and reports indicate it is also preparing to confidentially file for an IPO.
