Anthropic Closely Approaches OpenAI in Fundraising, Yet Struggles with Adoption
Anthropic in Talks for Major Funding Round
Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup established by former engineers from OpenAI, is currently negotiating to secure up to $2 billion in funding. This potential deal could elevate the company’s valuation to around $60 billion, more than tripling its worth in the past year. Lightspeed Venture Partners is leading this investment round.
Raising Funds and Valuation Milestones
If successful, this funding would position Anthropic as the fifth most valuable startup in the U.S., trailing only behind prominent companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, Stripe, and Databricks. Worldwide, it would occupy the seventh slot, following players such as ByteDance and Shein.
Since its inception in 2021, Anthropic has amassed a total of $16.7 billion in funding. The company saw substantial investments from Amazon, which contributed $8 billion, and Google, which invested at least $3 billion. In comparison, OpenAI has raised nearly $21.9 billion.
Comparing OpenAI and Anthropic
Funding vs. Market Traffic
While OpenAI has raised 31% more capital than Anthropic, the difference in user traffic to their AI chatbots reveals a larger gap in market popularity. According to a report from Bank of America Global Research, OpenAI’s ChatGPT recorded 128 million visits globally in January, whereas Anthropic’s Claude achieved only 2.5 million visits. This represents a staggering 51-fold difference.
Adoption Rates of AI Models
In the realm of AI technologies, OpenAI remains the leader. A report by cloud security firm Wiz indicates that 63% of organizations utilize OpenAI’s technologies in the cloud, starkly contrasting with Anthropic’s 31%.
A newer competitor, DeepSeek, is making waves in the AI landscape. Wiz recently pointed out that DeepSeek experienced a "surge" in popularity, with its latest model downloaded 130,000 times on Hugging Face, which is an open-source code repository. Among organizations hosting AI models on-premises, DeepSeek’s share has doubled to approximately 7% in just January alone.
Safe Superintelligence: A New Venture from OpenAI’s Co-founder
Ilya Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI and previously served as its chief scientist, is now working on securing funding for his new startup, Safe Superintelligence. Reports suggest this venture could be valued at $20 billion or more, although specific funding amounts have not been announced.
Sutskever’s departure from OpenAI in May 2024 followed a significant corporate reshuffle, which included the firing of CEO Sam Altman in November 2023. The board alleged that Altman’s lack of “consistent candor” was a basis for his removal, but after backlash from both investors and employees, he was reinstated. Subsequently, Sutskever resigned, along with another AI safety researcher, Jan Leike, who expressed concerns about the prioritization of innovation over safety within the company.
Last September, Safe Superintelligence reported raising $1 billion with backing from notable investors like NFDG, a16z, Sequoia, and others.
Key Developments from Other Former OpenAI Leaders
Mira Murati, another former OpenAI executive and CTO, has also endeavored to raise funds for her new startup. She is reportedly looking to secure $100 million, following her resignation in September last year.
This ongoing activity in the AI sector demonstrates the intense competition and rapid evolution of startups focused on artificial intelligence, as they navigate a landscape that combines significant funding opportunities with the pressing demands for innovation and user engagement.
