Anthropic surpasses OpenAI as world's largest AI startup with $61.5B funding
Anthropic has overtaken OpenAI to become the world's largest AI startup following a massive $61.5 billion funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The Series H round values the company at $96.5 billion, nearly double its previous $61.5 billion valuation. The investment is structured as a primary capital injection plus a secondary share sale allowing employees to cash out. Anthropic also launched Claude Opus 4.8, an upgraded model with enhanced performance in coding, agentic tasks, and professional work. This marks a significant shift in the AI startup hierarchy, with Anthropic now commanding the highest valuation in the sector.
Key facts
- Anthropic raised $61.5 billion in Series H funding
- The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Anthropic's valuation reached $96.5 billion
- Previous valuation was $61.5 billion
- Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.8 model
- Claude Opus 4.8 improves coding, agentic tasks, and professional work
- Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI in valuation
- The funding includes primary capital and secondary share sale
Entities
Institutions
- Anthropic
- OpenAI
- Lightspeed Venture Partners
Sources
- Quartz —