Anthropic is on the verge of closing a funding round exceeding $300 billion, with its valuation expected to surpass $900 billion. This would propel it past rival OpenAI to become the world's most valuable artificial intelligence startup. Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Altimeter Capital, and Greenoaks Capital Partners are anticipated to jointly lead this investment round, which could be finalized as soon as next week. Existing investors, including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and General Catalyst, also plan to participate in the round. The rapid assembly of this financing within weeks underscores intense market demand for the developer of Claude. Strong fundamentals underpin this massive funding round. Anthropic projects its second-quarter revenue will reach $109 billion, more than double the previous quarter's figure, and it anticipates recording its first profitable quarter. The company has also informed investors that its annualized revenue run rate is expected to exceed $500 billion by the end of next month. Upon completion of this round, Anthropic's valuation will exceed the $852 billion valuation set by OpenAI in its latest funding round in March, elevating it to the top position among global AI unicorns. The pricing of this round will serve as a crucial reference point for subsequent IPO valuations.
Funding Scale Exceeds Expectations, Revenue Sees Explosive Growth
The four joint lead investors each plan to contribute approximately $20 billion, totaling around $80 billion. The total subscription for the current round has already surpassed Anthropic's initial target of $300 billion. Final terms are still being finalized, and the figures are subject to change. The speed of the negotiations for this funding round has drawn market attention. It is reported that Anthropic only began evaluating whether to initiate a new funding round at the end of April this year, formally engaging with investors at the beginning of this month, and achieved oversubscription within weeks. Anthropic's financial performance provides strong support for its exceptionally high valuation. The company's second-quarter revenue is forecasted to hit $109 billion, representing growth of more than 100% compared to the prior quarter. The company is also expected to report its first profit in that quarter. Its annualized revenue run rate is projected to surpass $500 billion by the end of next month. This metric stood at just $40 billion last July, indicating growth of over tenfold in less than a year. Speaking at an industry conference this month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated the company achieved "80x growth" in annualized revenue and usage during the first quarter of this year. He added that the company is "going full speed" to secure more computing resources to support its business expansion.
Major Investments in Compute, Suppliers Become Financing Partners
To meet its sharply rising demand for computing power, Anthropic has undertaken several significant infrastructure initiatives. The company has signed a cooperation agreement with SpaceX worth nearly $450 billion, reached an $18 billion deal with Akamai Technologies to expand computing capacity, and is procuring chips and cloud services from Alphabet's Google. Notably, Anthropic is converting some of its suppliers into financing partners. Google recently committed to an additional $100 billion investment in Anthropic at a valuation of $3.5 trillion, consistent with the valuation from the funding round in February. Google also pledged to invest up to an additional $300 billion if Anthropic meets specific performance milestones. Amazon.com previously stated it would invest $50 billion in Anthropic at a $3.5 trillion valuation and plans to add another $200 billion over time. It is currently unclear whether Google and Amazon.com will participate in this latest funding round.
Valuation Surpasses OpenAI, IPO Prospects Garner Attention
This funding round will position Anthropic with a valuation exceeding $900 billion, surpassing OpenAI. The latter was valued at $852 billion in its March funding round and is currently expected to confidentially submit a draft IPO application imminently. Anthropic is also considered one of the candidates most likely to go public as early as this fall. Founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees, the company has established a leadership position by developing AI tools for enterprises, spanning areas from code generation to cybersecurity. Should both companies initiate their IPO processes, the valuations established in this funding round will serve as a significant reference benchmark and could further reshape the market's valuation logic for the broader AI sector.
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