Anthropic weighs new funding round at valuation exceeding $900...

Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude model family, is reportedly weighing a new funding round that could value the company at over $900 billion, according to Bloomberg and TechCrunch. The company has received multiple preemptive offers to raise roughly $50 billion at a valuation between $850 billion and $900 billion – nearly double its $380 billion valuation from a $30 billion raise in February. A final decision on the round and valuation is expected at a board meeting in May.

If Anthropic closes at the reported valuation, it would surpass OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in a March round, making Anthropic the world's most valuable AI startup. The fundraising push comes ahead of a potential initial public offering as soon as October, according to Bloomberg. Major backers Alphabet's Google and Amazon have continued to announce multi-billion-dollar performance-based investments, though Anthropic had reportedly resisted earlier proposals at valuations of $800 billion or more.

The aggressive valuation reflects the intense competition in the AI arms race, where leading foundation model companies command stratospheric premiums thanks to surging enterprise demand. Anthropic's Claude has emerged as a key rival to OpenAI's GPT models, and the company's financial trajectory signals that investors see long-term value in safety-focused AI development as the market matures.