Anthropic secures $65 billion funding, valuing firm at $965 billion
Led by venture capital giants and cloud providers, the round underscores the strategic shift toward enterprise AI, even as the company faces legal challenges with the US Pentagon.
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm founded by former OpenAI employees and led by chief executive Dario Amodei, has announced the completion of a $65 billion funding round. The transaction values the company at $965 billion, a figure that places it ahead of its primary rival, OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in March. This development establishes Anthropic as the most valuable private entity in the artificial intelligence sector.
The funding round was led by prominent venture capital firms including Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital. It also incorporates $15 billion in previously committed investments from major cloud infrastructure providers, with Amazon contributing $5 billion. Semiconductor manufacturers Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix participated as strategic infrastructure partners, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of modern AI development.
Anthropic’s strategic focus distinguishes it from OpenAI’s initial trajectory by prioritising the delivery of generative AI to enterprise clients rather than general consumers. The company maintains a specific emphasis on AI safety while developing state-of-the-art models. Krishna Rao, Anthropic’s chief financial officer, stated that the capital would support the company’s ability to serve historic demand and bring its Claude model to more professional environments.
The announcement comes as Anthropic navigates a significant legal dispute with the US Pentagon. The company has sued the Defence Department after it was designated a supply chain risk. Anthropic has characterised this designation as unconstitutional retaliation for its refusal to grant the military unfettered access to its AI models.
In parallel with its commercial expansion, Anthropic is managing the rollout of its next-generation model, Mythos. This model possesses unprecedented cybersecurity capabilities and is currently restricted to security partners rather than being released to the public. Claude is now available across all three major cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
The broader market context includes recent gains in US indices, partly attributed to a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. While both Anthropic and OpenAI could potentially go public as early as this year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which absorbed xAI, is targeting a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion, with shares potentially trading as early as June 12.
This funding round represents one of the largest capital injections in the technology sector to date. The valuation surge highlights the intense competition for dominance in the AI landscape, with significant capital flowing into firms that can balance rapid product development with rigorous safety and enterprise integration standards.
