San Francisco – Anthropic is in talks with investors to raise money at a more than US$900 billion (S$1.15 trillion) valuation, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially leapfrogging its long-time rival OpenAI as the world’s most valuable AI start-up.
That would more than double the company’s current valuation, said the people. The considerations are at a very early stage and the company has yet to accept any offers, they added.
The talks coincide with a push by Anthropic to ramp up fundraising amid the breakout success of its Claude AI chatbot. Anthropic, which Bloomberg has reported is considering an initial public offering as soon as October, has been on the hunt for more infrastructure to meet growing demand for its products.
Anthropic declined to comment.
Alphabet-owned Google recently committed to invest US$10 billion in Anthropic at a US$350 billion valuation, the same amount it was valued at in a funding round in February. It plans to invest up to another US$30 billion in Anthropic if the start-up hits certain performance targets.
Amazon.com is investing US$5 billion in Anthropic at a US$350 billion valuation, with plans to inject US$20 billion more over time.
It is unclear whether those two firms will be part of the upcoming funding round.
Founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees, Anthropic has since emerged as a leader in the AI sector. Anthropic has developed a series of AI tools aimed at overhauling the way businesses handle tasks from coding to cybersecurity.
In early April, the company unveiled a new model called Mythos that is purportedly able to detect and exploit vulnerabilities in a wide range of critical software. Anthropic deemed it to be too dangerous for wide release and has instead let a limited group of companies begin testing it on their own systems.
However, the model has been accessed by a small group of unauthorised users, Bloomberg News has reported.
As Anthropic has gained momentum, it has put new pressure on OpenAI, which is widely expected to go public as soon as 2026. The ChatGPT maker has reportedly missed some of its own targets for revenue and user growth as it contends with competition from Anthropic and Google.
OpenAI has taken steps to streamline its sprawling product portfolio to focus on AI agents and a new model. The company was most recently valued at US$852 billion in a funding round completed in March. BLOOMBERG
