AI startup Anthropic is talking to investors about a potential funding round that could value the company at up to $40 billion. This comes as rival OpenAI is closing in on a massive new investment.
Anthropic, OpenAI's main startup competitor, has started early discussions with potential backers about new funding, according to an existing investor. The company is aiming for a $30-40 billion valuation, roughly double its valuation from earlier this year. Anthropic, which makes money from its AI assistant Claude, is reacting to recent developments at OpenAI.
OpenAI is close to finalizing a $5-7 billion funding round at a valuation of around $150 billion, nearly double its valuation from Q1 this year. OpenAI set a $250 million minimum investment per backer for this round. Potential investors include tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple, who together may contribute $2-3 billion.
Anthropic and OpenAI continue to record losses
Anthropic projects $800 million in annualized revenue by year-end, or about $66 million monthly. But a big chunk goes to Amazon, which resells Claude models to its cloud customers. Anthropic's actual revenue could be 25-50% lower. For comparison, OpenAI expects about $4 billion in annual revenue, or $333 million monthly.
Despite high revenue, both companies are deep in the red. Anthropic expects to lose over $2.7 billion this year. A $40 billion valuation would be 50 times projected annual gross revenue, higher than OpenAI's revenue multiple in its upcoming round. Anthropic's talks are still early, and it's unclear if investors will accept such a high valuation.
