Anthropic Weighs $900B Funding Round That Would Overtake OpenAI

Anthropic has received multiple preemptive offers to raise roughly $50 billion at a valuation in the $850 billion to $900 billion range, according to TechCrunch. If the round closes at those terms, it would surpass OpenAI's $852 billion valuation from its March 2026 funding round, making Anthropic the most valuable AI startup in the world. Bloomberg reports that some offers would value the company at over $900 billion, while CNBC confirms Anthropic is, per their reporting, in talks with investors to raise money at a $900 billion valuation.

One institutional investor prepared to commit as much as $5 billion has yet to secure a meeting with Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao, TechCrunch reports — a sign of just how oversubscribed this round is. A board meeting in May is expected to make a definitive decision on the round and its valuation.

The valuation leap is staggering. Anthropic was valued at $380 billion as recently as February 2026, meaning a $900B close would more than double its worth in roughly three months. For context, OpenAI was valued at $852 billion after closing a record‑breaking $122 billion funding round in late March, per CNBC. That OpenAI round included $50B from Amazon, $30B from Nvidia, and $30B from SoftBank.

Anthropic's strategic investors are also writing enormous checks. Amazon is investing up to $25 billion (including $5B immediately with $20B tied to milestones), while Google's Alphabet is committing up to $40 billion ($10B now at a $350B valuation, with $30B more tied to performance targets), according to TechCrunch. Anthropic has also committed to $100B in AWS spending over 10 years.

What's driving the valuation? Revenue. Anthropic announced earlier in April that its business has reached $30 billion in annualized revenue, and TechCrunch reports the current run rate may be closer to $40 billion, though Anthropic's official figure stands at $30 billion annualized revenue. That's up from roughly $10 billion in CY2025 revenue — a roughly 4x increase in four months. CNBC notes the company generated roughly $10 billion in revenue in calendar year 2025.

A large portion of that revenue is driven by Anthropic's AI coding capabilities, specifically through its Claude Code and Cowork platforms. The company needs capital to purchase compute infrastructure to run its new Mythos model, which demands significantly more processing power than previous Claude versions.

This could be Anthropic's final private round. The company is reportedly considering an IPO as soon as October 2026 (Q4), with one report suggesting the IPO could raise over $60 billion. Gizmodo reports that publicly traded stock "will become a reality later this year if its rumored IPO goes forward."

The Economist argued this week that companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are "already public companies" in practice, given active secondary market trading. On platforms like Jupiter and Forge Global, Anthropic's implied valuation has already crossed $1 trillion, with tokenized pre‑IPO shares on Jupiter surging 640%.

However, risks remain: Anthropic was labeled a supply chain risk by the Pentagon, and pending litigation around its Mythos model could complicate an IPO timeline.

For developers building on Claude, the $900B raise signals both opportunity and pressure. The infusion of capital should fund the compute infrastructure that Anthropic desperately needs — the company has faced widespread complaints about Claude usage limits in recent weeks, per TechCrunch. But the trajectory of pricing changes is concerning.

Ars Technica reported that Anthropic tested removing Claude Code from the $20/month Pro plan, citing that engagement per subscriber had surged and current plans weren't designed for that level of usage. After backlash, Claude Code was restored, but the pressure remains. Anthropic has also ejected bundled tokens from enterprise seat deals, squeezing enterprise customers, according to The Register.

The likely outcome for API builders: token pricing may stay competitive since that's where revenue growth is concentrated, but subscription tiers and usage caps will probably tighten further as Anthropic manages compute constraints and steers users toward higher‑margin enterprise plans.

Anthropic's valuation leap is reshaping the AI market hierarchy. OpenAI, valued at $852B after its March round, is now facing a rival that may be worth more — and growing faster. OpenAI itself missed internal revenue and user targets recently, as CNBC reported, and its drift from Microsoft toward Amazon has become "aggressive."

The broader market is watching closely. Bloomberg Opinion noted that an OpenAI bubble is not the same as an AI market bubble — suggesting that even if individual company valuations correct, the underlying demand for AI infrastructure and services remains strong. For builders, the takeaway is clear: the AI platform market is consolidating around two major players, and both are raising enormous war chests to fund the compute arms race.

Anthropic's potential $900B raise is more than a funding round — it's a declaration that the AI market has a new leader. With revenue growing 4x in four months, a likely IPO by year‑end, and compute deals with Amazon, Google, and Broadcom, Anthropic is building the infrastructure to support the next generation of AI tools. Builders should expect API pricing to remain competitive but subscription models to tighten, and should plan for a world where Anthropic is a publicly traded company by Q1 2027.