Anthropic Hits $965 Billion Valuation, Topping OpenAI as AI’s Most Valuable Startup

Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI to become the highest-valued private AI company, with a staggering $965 billion price tag following a fresh $65 billion fundraising round. The round was led by Altimeter Capital, Greenoaks, Dragoneer, and Sequoia Capital, signaling strong investor confidence in the maker of the Claude chatbot family.

This valuation leapfrogs OpenAI’s $852 billion mark from its March raise, placing Anthropic—led by CEO Dario Amodei—firmly in the lead as both firms prepare for what are expected to be blockbuster public listings. Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao said the new capital will help meet surging demand and push Claude into more workplaces. Altimeter CEO Brad Gerstner pointed to Claude’s adoption by “the world’s most demanding organizations” as proof of the company’s technical edge.

Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, Anthropic launched Claude in 2023 and now sees over 1 million new sign-ups daily. The company also unveiled Claude Opus 4.8, calling it a “modest but tangible improvement.”

Not everything has been smooth. The Trump administration labeled Anthropic a “supply chain risk” due to its refusal to grant unrestricted military access to its tools. Still, the company’s focus on enterprise coding has drawn praise from University of Florida IPO expert Jay Ritter, who noted that “Anthropic apparently has the best product” in a massive market.

Ritter cautioned that while the AI investment surge raises bubble questions, the winners—likely just a handful—could reap enormous profits. “Nobody wants to use the eighth best product,” he said. Anthropic, for now, looks like one of the frontrunners.