Anthropic targets $350b valuation in $20b funding round

Anthropic PBC is finalizing a funding round that could raise over US$20 billion, with close as early as next week, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The AI startup, which competes with OpenAI, initially sought US$10 billion but is now on track to raise more than double that amount at a valuation around US$350 billion.

Investors including Coatue Management, GIC, and Iconiq Capital have lined up checks exceeding US$1 billion each, while Nvidia and Microsoft are expected to contribute up to US$15 billion.

The round would nearly double Anthropic’s previous valuation, following a US$13 billion raise.

The deal has not yet been finalized, and terms could still change, with Altimeter, Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Menlo also involved.

Both Anthropic and OpenAI are also exploring IPO options this year amid soaring AI valuations and significant investments in data centers, chips, and talent.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

This funding round depends on a large “capital for compute” deal

Microsoft and Nvidia may provide up to US$15 billion through a partnership announced in November 2025, combining cash with other support 1.
As part of that agreement, Anthropic committed to buying US$30 billion of Azure (Microsoft’s cloud computing platform) compute capacity and may sign for up to one gigawatt more 1.
The “capital for compute” setup ties both companies to a long-running supplier and customer arrangement, which goes further than a standard equity stake 1.
Revenue is rising, yet the cost base remains steep. One analysis put Anthropic at negative 94% gross margins in 2024 and forecast gross profit margin at 50% “this year” and 77% in 2028 2.

The AI arms race is pushing companies into tighter partnerships

Funding at this scale suggests that even leading AI labs may struggle to expand without cloud and chip partners that can supply capacity 1.
Serving frontier models can strain customers. One analysis said Cursor, made by Anysphere, a startup behind an AI coding assistant, at one point paid Anthropic more per year than it brought in as revenue 2.
The market may split. A small group of heavily financed foundation model providers (companies that build large, general-purpose AI models) could focus on large enterprises, while leaner model builders compete on price for startups 2.
Anthropic says its reliability and safety-focused AI systems fit enterprise and public sector use, which it argues supports long-term adoption 3.