Investing.com -- Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup, is currently in advanced negotiations to raise $2 billion in a funding round that would increase the company's value to $60 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. This development comes amidst a growing interest from investors in AI technology.
The funding round is spearheaded by Lightspeed (TSX:LSPD) Venture Partners, according to sources close to the matter. The proposed $60 billion valuation encompasses the capital Anthropic plans to raise in this round.
If successful, this deal would position Anthropic as the fifth-most valuable U.S. startup, following SpaceX, OpenAI, Stripe, and Databricks, as per data from CB Insights. In the previous year, the company was valued at $18 billion in a round led by Menlo Ventures.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), a close partner of Anthropic, has been a significant source of the startup's funding. In November, Amazon pledged $4 billion to Anthropic, bringing its total investment since 2023 to $8 billion. The investment made in November was a convertible note, which will be converted into equity at the valuation established in the current round.
Anthropic's technology is developed and managed in data centers operated by Amazon and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Google, like Amazon, has also invested billions of dollars in the startup.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.