Anthropic’s Valuation Surge Amid AI Regulation Discussions
The valuation of Anthropic, the company behind the AI chatbot Claude, has skyrocketed to approximately 545 trillion won, following a substantial fundraising effort. This surge in valuation coincides with the company’s notable contributions to political action committees advocating for AI regulation.
Major Fundraising Accomplishments
On the 12th of February, Anthropic announced that it raised $30 billion (around 43 trillion won) in its Series G funding round, which was led by the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and venture investor Coatue. This fundraising initiative has elevated the company’s valuation to $380 billion, translating to approximately 545 trillion won. Remarkably, this figure has more than doubled from $183 billion in September of the previous year.
The funding round saw participation from major financial players, including BlackRock, Blackstone, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Sequoia Capital, and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). Notably, investments announced by Microsoft and Nvidia in November of the prior year were also part of this round.
Initially, Anthropic aimed to raise $10 billion but later revised this target to $20 billion. The actual amount raised far surpassed expectations, driven by increasing demand from corporate customers.
Revenue Growth and Market Position
According to Anthropic, its annualized revenue has seen remarkable growth, escalating from $100 million in January 2023 to $1 billion in January of last year, and recently reaching $14 billion last month. The company highlighted that Claude is now deployed across all three major cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
This impressive valuation places Anthropic in close competition with its rival, OpenAI, which boasts a valuation of $500 billion.
Commitment to AI Regulation
In addition to its fundraising achievements, Anthropic has committed $20 million (approximately 290 billion won) to the super PAC “Public First Action”, which supports stronger AI regulation. This group advocates for greater AI model transparency, federal-level regulation, export controls on AI chips, and strategic responses to AI-enabled biological and cyber threats.
Public First Action has set a fundraising target of $50 million to $75 million and is actively running ads endorsing certain Republican politicians.
Anthropic emphasized the need for flexible regulation to manage risks while preserving the benefits of AI, stating its intent to engage actively in the policy discussion process.
Contrasting Perspectives on AI Regulation
In contrast, the super PAC “Leading the Future”, which is led by OpenAI and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, is advocating for unified federal regulation and the limitation of disparate state-level rules. This group has reportedly raised around $125 million.
As the landscape of AI evolves, the interplay between innovation and regulation remains a critical focal point for major players like Anthropic and OpenAI.
