Anthropic vaults to a $965 billion valuation with new funding as Claude demand surges

Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude chatbot, announced Thursday it secured $65 billion in private funding, propelling its valuation to $965 billion. This surpasses its rival OpenAI, which reported an $852 billion valuation in March, and positions Anthropic among the world’s most valuable startups ahead of a potential public listing. The funding round was led by investment firms Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Greenoaks Capital, and Sequoia Capital. Anthropic reported annualized revenue of $47 billion from selling its technology to users and organizations relying on Claude for tasks like coding and professional workflows. Despite high revenue, the company remains unprofitable, echoing concerns about an AI market bubble shared by other high-growth AI firms like OpenAI and SpaceX, which merged with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year. The new funding will support Anthropic’s rapid growth, including expanding Claude’s reach and maintaining its research leadership. The company also introduced Claude Opus 4.8, an upgraded AI model designed to outperform previous versions in coding and professional applications. Anthropic’s chief financial officer, Krishna Rao, stated the funds will help meet surging demand and integrate Claude into more work environments. Anthropic’s valuation now exceeds SpaceX’s $1.25 trillion valuation post-merger with xAI, though SpaceX remains a broader conglomerate. The company’s aggressive expansion and high-profile backers underscore the competitive intensity in AI innovation, with all three firms—Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX—racing toward potential public offerings despite ongoing losses.