Anthropic just closed one of the largest AI funding rounds in history, pulling in between $10 billion and $15 billion at a $350 billion valuation, CNBC confirmed Tuesday. But the eye-popping haul could climb even higher if Microsoft and Nvidia - who previously pledged up to $15 billion combined - decide to throw more chips on the table. The deal cements Anthropic's position as one of the most heavily capitalized players in the AI arms race.
Anthropic just rewrote the playbook for AI startup valuations. The company closed its latest funding round somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion at a staggering $350 billion valuation, three sources familiar with the discussions told CNBC on Tuesday. That's well above the initial $10 billion target - and the total could still climb higher.
The wildcard? Microsoft and Nvidia are sitting on the sidelines for now, but they've got serious skin in the game. Back in November, the two tech giants announced plans to pour up to $5 billion and $10 billion into Anthropic, respectively. Whether they'll participate in this specific round - and how much they might commit - remains unclear, according to people familiar with the matter.
Coatue and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC are leading the charge, as CNBC previously reported. But here's where it gets interesting: Sequoia Capital is also jumping in, despite being a major backer of Anthropic's chief rival OpenAI. The Financial Times first broke news of the oversubscribed round.
The timing couldn't be better for Anthropic. CEO Dario Amodei told CNBC earlier this month that the company generated close to $10 billion in revenue last year - a jaw-dropping figure for a startup founded just four years ago by former OpenAI research executives who split from Sam Altman's outfit in 2021.
