Anthropic is on the verge of securing a major funding deal. The AI startup may raise between $3 billion and $5 billion, and if finalized, the round would value the company at $170 billion, according to Bloomberg.
This is a sharp jump from its previous valuation of $61.5 billion in March.
Iconiq Leads
Investment firm Iconiq Capital is leading the round. However, a second lead investor may also enter the deal.
Discussions have reportedly included sovereign wealth funds such as the Qatar Investment Authority and Singapore’s GIC.
The interest from these state-backed investors reflects the global race to back AI leaders. Yet, it also introduces concerns about the ethical implications of such funding.
The Previous Round
Just four months ago, Anthropic raised $3.5 billion in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
That deal brought in an elite group of investors that included Bessemer Venture Partners, Fidelity, Salesforce Ventures, Cisco Investments, and General Catalyst.
At that time, the company’s valuation stood at $61.5 billion. Now, with a new deal in motion, that number could nearly triple.
AI’s Growth Demands
Anthropic develops advanced large language models, including Claude. Building and scaling these models requires enormous resources.
The costs of compute power, data infrastructure, and research talent are significant. To remain competitive, the company must secure ongoing funding.
Also read: Anthropic’s AI Found Blackmailing Developers in Simulations
Internal Discomfort
While the funding may ensure growth, it has not come without concern. In a leaked memo reported by Wired, CEO Dario Amodei expressed reservations.
He noted discomfort with accepting funds from regimes with poor human rights records. “I’m not thrilled about taking money from sovereign wealth funds of dictatorial governments,” he wrote.
Despite this, Amodei admitted that idealism has limits. “Unfortunately, I think ‘No bad person should ever benefit from our success’ is a pretty difficult principle to run a business on,” he added.
