Anthropic Reportedly In Talks To Raise $750M At $18B-Plus Valuation

Generative AI startup Anthropic is reportedly in talks to raise $750 million in fresh capital in a deal that would value it upwards of $18 billion.

The San Francisco-based startup is in talks to raise funding in a Menlo Ventures-led deal, The Information first reported Wednesday, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The funding would value Anthropic at $15 billion premoney, the publication reported — more than triple its valuation earlier this year — and more than $18 billion in the final deal.

CNBC confirmed the funding talks Thursday, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. It said Anthropic’s new funding would come at a valuation of up to $18.4 billion.

While the deal would represent a huge valuation boost for Anthropic, the startup was previously aiming for a valuation of $20 billion to $30 billion, The Information reported earlier. Anthropic has around 300 employees and was aiming for $200 million in annualized recurring revenue as of October, the publication has reported.

Anthropic has already raised $7.6 billion from investors including Google and Amazon, according to Crunchbase data. Its largest raise this year was a deal with Amazon in September in which the e-commerce and cloud titan will invest up to $4 billion in exchange for a minority stake in Anthropic.

That reported deal was followed just a month later by another multibillion-dollar one. In October, it was reported that previous investor Google agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic, including $500 million upfront and an additional $1.5 billion more over time.

Anthropic’s main rival, OpenAI, has raised some $11.3 billion from investors, primarily Microsoft, according to Crunchbase.

The two companies are emblematic of the huge funding deals that have gone to artificial intelligence startups this year, after OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool, which launched in late 2022, sparked a frenzy of investor interest in backing a new generation of AI companies.