Anthropic in Talks to Raise $30 Billion at a $900 Billion Valuation, Surpassing OpenAI

Anthropic is in advanced talks to raise at least $30 billion in a new funding round that would value the company at more than $900 billion, according to reports from Bloomberg and the Financial Times on May 13 and 15, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter.

If closed on these terms, it would be the largest funding round in the company's history — and would place Anthropic above OpenAI, whose last valuation reached $852 billion in the round completed in March 2026 with participation from Nvidia, Amazon, and SoftBank.

Who Is Leading the Round

According to the Financial Times, the round is being co-led by four investment firms: Sequoia Capital, Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, and Greenoaks. The round is expected to close as soon as the end of May 2026, though at the time of publishing no term sheet has been signed and the deal is not finalized.

The operation doesn't happen in isolation. In late April 2026, Google committed to investing an additional $10 billion in Anthropic, with an option to extend that investment by up to $30 billion more as part of an agreement aimed at deepening the relationship between both companies. This makes Google one of Anthropic's most important strategic backers, alongside Amazon, which already has infrastructure agreements with Anthropic worth billions through AWS.

The Context: Three Months, Three Times the Valuation

What makes this round especially striking is the speed of appreciation. In February 2026, Anthropic closed another $30 billion round — also a record at the time — at a valuation of $350 billion. In just three months, the negotiated valuation has multiplied by more than two and a half times.

This kind of accelerated appreciation reflects competitive pressure in the sector: large investment funds are betting that the enterprise generative AI market will grow substantially in the coming years, and that positions in leading labs are difficult to obtain once the market consolidates.

What the Capital Will Be Used For

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has stated publicly that the capital will go primarily toward compute infrastructure — the compute capacity commitments with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud that will come online progressively through 2027.

Training and serving language models at Claude's scale requires GPU hardware investments that no company can finance with operating revenue at this stage. The race for compute capacity is simultaneously a race for capital.

Competitive Implications

If the round closes at $900 billion, Anthropic would temporarily surpass OpenAI in valuation — a position swap that would have seemed unlikely a year ago, when OpenAI led the market with a considerable advantage in users and brand recognition.

Google's investment in Anthropic creates a peculiar dynamic: Google competes directly with Claude through its Gemini models, but at the same time is one of Anthropic's primary investors and infrastructure providers. This kind of simultaneous compete-and-collaborate relationship is increasingly common in the AI ecosystem, where cross-investments and cloud agreements are part of everyone's strategy.

According to market data cited by industry sources, Gemini grew 258% year-over-year in paid subscribers, while Claude registered 200% growth in the same period — both extraordinary figures in absolute terms, though Google maintains a distribution advantage through its Workspace integration.

Market Context: The Largest Startup Round in History

If completed at these terms, this would be one of the largest private funding rounds in the history of the technology industry. For context, at a $900 billion valuation, Anthropic would be worth more than Intel, Airbus, or Samsung Electronics — without yet reporting consistent operating profits.

Investors argue that AI is a foundational technology comparable to electricity, and that the winner of this race will capture a multi-trillion dollar market. Skeptics point out that generative AI monetization is still early-stage and that most enterprises haven't moved beyond pilot programs.

What It Means for Developers Using Claude

In the short term, this round changes nothing in the API or Anthropic's products. Pricing, available models, and terms of service remain the same. You can check the current state of models in the official Anthropic documentation.

In the medium term, the capital should translate into greater infrastructure capacity — which historically has meant improvements in latency, availability, and the ability to launch larger models. GPU infrastructure competition is one of the most real bottlenecks in the sector in 2026.

For the broader developer ecosystem, a well-funded Anthropic means continued investment in the Claude API, Claude Code, and the tools built around the platform — which has been expanding steadily with each major funding round.