Anthropic closes $30 billion funding round as cash keeps flowing into top AI startups

In a major development for the artificial intelligence sector, Anthropic has successfully closed a staggering $30 billion funding round, achieving a post-money valuation of $380 billion. This significant increase more than doubles the company's valuation since its last funding round in September. As Anthropic strives to keep pace with industry leader OpenAI, which previously raised over $40 billion, the competition intensifies. Anthropic's latest funding round is now the second-largest private tech fundraising effort on record, following OpenAI's landmark achievement. The previous record, held by Ant Group, was a $14 billion capital raise back in 2018. The high cost of developing and training AI models is a primary driver behind the substantial funds being raised by companies like Anthropic and OpenAI, as they invest heavily in computing resources, particularly Nvidia's graphics processing units. Competing tech giants like Google are also ramping up their investments, with plans to allocate up to $185 billion this year on capital expenditures, particularly for their Gemini products. Leading Anthropic's recent funding were Coatue and the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, with notable participation from D. E. Shaw Ventures, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, ICONIQ, and MGX. Importantly, this round includes a portion of earlier announced investments from tech titans Microsoft and Nvidia, which had pledged up to $5 billion and $10 billion, respectively. Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers and executives, Anthropic has carved out a notable presence in the enterprise sector, contrasting with OpenAI's consumer-focused approach, largely spurred by the popularity of ChatGPT. The company reported an impressive annualized revenue increase to $14 billion, up from approximately $10 billion last year. Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao emphasized the growing importance of their AI product, Claude, stating that it has become vital for various businesses. The new capital will enable Anthropic to enhance its infrastructure, accelerate research efforts, and continue developing enterprise-grade products. Meanwhile, OpenAI is also in fundraising discussions for a potential round that may reach around $100 billion, as they seek to bolster their cash reserves following substantial infrastructure commitments last year. With Anthropic deriving around 80% of its business from enterprise clients, CEO Dario Amodei highlighted the success of their AI coding tool, Claude Code, which is automating parts of the software development process. The tool's annualized revenue has surged to $2.5 billion, with business subscriptions quadrupling since the year's start. This uptick in enterprise usage aligns with the broader market concerns regarding AI's transformative impact on software companies, leading to a significant decline in software stock valuations, which have collectively lost about $2 trillion from their peak. In response to these competitive pressures, OpenAI has been promoting its own AI coding tool, Codex, recently launching a new model, GPT-5.3-Codex, along with a dedicated app for Apple users. Anthropic, on its part, introduced its latest model, Claude Opus 4.6, earlier this month, claiming improved capabilities in coding and producing high-quality professional outputs. As demand from enterprises grows, Anthropic is committed to building the necessary models, products, and partnerships to lead the charge in AI's evolving landscape.