Anthropic funding is once again in the spotlight, with the AI startup on the verge of receiving a significant investment that will elevate its valuation to $170 billion.
Per Bloomberg’s reporting, the company is planning to raise a pre-Series D funding of $3B to $5B with Iconiq Capital leading the deal. Additionally, sovereign funds from Qatar and Singapore may also participate, making this one of the largest privately funded deals in AI this year.
Incredible Growth Since March
If the funding does come in, this will be a further valuation increase of nearly 3x from just a few months ago.
In March 2025, Anthropic raised 3.5 billion at a 61.5 billion valuation. That round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and backed by a powerhouse lineup, including:
- C3.ai
- Salesforce Ventures
- Cisco Investments
- Fidelity Management
- Jane Street
- D1 Capital
Bessemer and Menlo Ventures
Now, with the new funding on the table, Anthropic is poised to become one of the most valuable private AI company.
Despite the funds, the company’s CEO raised ethical and moral concerns.
In a memo obtained by Wired, Dario Amodei, the CEO, seems to understand the unease professionals feel towards sovereign wealth funds from authoritarian nations.
“I’m not thrilled about taking money from dictatorial regimes,” Amodei reportedly wrote.
“Unfortunately, I think ‘No bad person should ever benefit from our success’ is a pretty difficult principle to run a business on.”
The concern was somewhat justified, but the memo goes on to suggest that securing funds is vital for business agility in a rapidly changing AI environment.
Why This Much Funding?
Advanced AI is not built on code and data alone—it is built on capital.
To develop model Claude (Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT), the following is a necessity:
- – Massive datasets
- – Enormous computing power
- – Skilled machine learning engineers
- – Strong infrastructure for training and deployment
- – Powerful infrastructure for deployment
To secure the competitive advantage against OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta AI, Anthropic’s agility in securing capital is essential.
What Sets Anthropic Apart?
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, Anthropic is distinct in that they regard AI safety, transparency, and alignment as a major business focus.
Claude, the company’s chatbot, aims to be more responsive and responsible than its predecessors. Even as it scrambles to catch up with other companies in the industry, the firm is known to uphold ethical standards, earning it a reputation in the sector.
The latest round of funding for Anthropic, however, demonstrates the difficulty of balancing ethical principles with the business world.
Summary of Important Insights
- Funding for Anthropic is expected to come with a whopping $3-$5 billion price tag.
- Anthropic’s valuation would sharp increase to $170 billion in comparison to $61.5B in March.
- Iconiq Capital is leading the round, with possible participation from Qatar and Singapore
- “I would worry that receiving funding from Qatar or Singapore would mean being complicit with authoritarian regimes,” expressed the CEO Dario Amordei
- Advanced AI development demands a lot of resources – both mentally and physically – and these funds would allow for that.
Concluding Remarks
This funding might just be a turning point for both the company and the investors.
The massive funding underscores the cost of ethical boundaries, as well as the alarming rush the companies feel to expand. In the face of skyrocketing demand for large language models and rising competition, it seems the AI industry is just at the dawn of a bidding war.