Anthropic poised to become the world's most valuable AI start-up
23 May 2026

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is on the verge of raising over $30 billion in its latest funding round.

The investment will push the company's valuation to over $900 billion, making it the most valuable AI start-up in the world, as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg.

Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Altimeter Capital, and Greenoaks Capital Partners are expected to co-lead this financing round.

Investors pour in billions as demand for AI surge
Investor participation

The investment firms are expected to invest around $2 billion each in the funding round. Other existing investors, such as Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and General Catalyst, are also expected to participate.

The total investment is already exceeding the $30 billion target set by Anthropic.

The rapid formation of this large round indicates strong investor demand for the Claude maker, a reference to Anthropic's AI product.

Anthropic on track for 1st profitable quarter
Financial growth

Anthropic expects to post $10.9 billion in revenue for Q2, more than doubling from the previous quarter as demand for its AI software surges.

The company is also on track for its first profitable quarter.

It has told investors that its annualized run rate revenue will exceed $50 billion by the end of next month, a significant jump from last year's run rate of $4 billion in July.

Deals to boost computing capacity signed with SpaceX, Akamai
Growth trajectory

During a recent conference, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei revealed that the firm has witnessed "80x growth" in annualized revenue and usage in Q1 this year.

He said the start-up is "working as quickly as possible" to secure more computing resources to support its services.

The company has signed nearly $45 billion deal with Elon Musk's SpaceX and a $1.8 billion agreement with Akamai Technologies Inc. to boost its computing capacity.

Google, Amazon to invest $50 billion combined in start-up
Strategic partnerships

Anthropic has also partnered with Google for chips and cloud services.

The tech giant recently agreed to invest $10 billion in the start-up at a $350 billion valuation, the same it was valued at in February's funding round.

Google will invest up to an additional $30 billion in Anthropic if the start-up meets certain performance targets.

Amazon has also committed $5 billion at a $350 billion valuation and plans to inject another $20 billion over time.