Anthropic becomes most valuable AI startup, beats OpenAI with near $1T valuation

Anthropic has reportedly overtaken OpenAI after a $65 billion funding round valued the Claude maker at $965 billion. The move sharpens the contest for AI scale, compute and a possible stock market debut.

In Short

• Anthropic’s valuation reportedly jumps to $965 billion
• AI startup surpasses rival OpenAI after fresh fundraising round
• New funding may help expand Claude and AI infrastructure

Anthropic has reportedly become the world’s most valuable AI startup, overtaking rival OpenAI. The development comes after Anthropic announced a massive new $65 billion fundraising round, valuing the company at a staggering $965 billion. The fundraising could also mark Anthropic’s final major private funding round before the company potentially debuts on the public markets.

Anthropic is currently locked in a high-stakes battle with OpenAI for technological supremacy and market share in the rapidly expanding AI industry. Both companies are reportedly preparing to tap public markets, possibly as early as this year, to secure the enormous computing resources required to power their AI services and train next-generation models.

Anthropic has struggled to keep up with rising demand in recent months. The company has introduced usage limits during peak hours and has even encouraged users to shift activity to off-peak timings by offering additional compute access during those periods.

In a post about the funding, Anthropic said the fresh capital will help it “expand compute to meet growing demand for Claude,” among other efforts.

Anthropic’s valuation has surged rapidly

Anthropic’s latest valuation marks a massive jump from its $380 billion valuation in February. By comparison, OpenAI’s last fundraising round in March valued the company at $852 billion. The sharp rise highlights Anthropic’s rapid emergence as one of the biggest competitors in the AI race, as well as growing investor demand for stakes in frontier AI companies.

“Since our Series G in February, adoption has continued to grow across global enterprise customers, and our run-rate revenue crossed $47 billion earlier this month,” Anthropic said in a blog post.

Samsung, Amazon and chipmakers join funding round

The latest fundraising round also included strategic infrastructure partners such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. A portion of the round, around $15 billion, reportedly consists of previously committed investments from hyperscalers, including a $5 billion investment from Amazon that was announced in April.

Anthropic also launches new Claude model

The fundraising announcement arrived on the same day Anthropic unveiled its new Claude Opus 4.8 model. The company says the latest AI model offers stronger capabilities in agentic tasks, advanced coding, and improved honesty and self-correction.

Anthropic is also reportedly preparing for a wider release of models comparable to its powerful cybersecurity-focused AI system Mythos. The company had previously limited access to Mythos because of concerns around potential safety risks.

- Ends