AI startup Anthropic is in the process of securing $3.5 billion in a funding round that would value the company at $61.5 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on Monday.
Anthropic, the creator of the Claude chatbot, is likely to be backed financially by top venture capital firms such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Bessemer Venture Partners, the sources added. The current fundraising exceeds the $2 billion the firm had been said to be targeting last month, according to an earlier Reuters report.
The funding represents increasing investor appetite for AI startups, with venture capital firms pouring funds aggressively into this space. Almost half of all venture capital investment raised in the United States during the previous year went to AI-related firms, as investors look to capture the blowout growth and long-term opportunity of artificial intelligence.
Anthropic’s fundraising talks also reflect the persistent dominance of U.S.-based AI startups, even as more affordable options like China’s DeepSeek have raised eyebrows among some investors. At the same time, OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is in talks for a gargantuan funding round that would take its valuation as high as $300 billion, Reuters has already reported.
Anthropic has yet to respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the current round of funding. The Wall Street Journal broke the story on the fundraising campaign.
Led by ex-OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic has become one of the largest players in the foundation model segment. Last year, in a financing round headed by Menlo Ventures, the firm was valued at around $18 billion.
To this support, on Monday Anthropic unveiled a fresh generative AI model, referred to as Claude 3.7 Sonnet. The model builds on previous offerings and promises quicker responses along with the capability of explaining how it arrived at them step by step, reinforcing its position among aggressive players in the generative AI space.
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