Anthropic plans to raise $3–5 billion at a $170 billion valuation, led by Iconiq Capital

According to a report by Jinse Finance, citing CNBC, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is in talks with investors to raise between $3 billion and $5 billion in a funding round led by Iconiq Capital, which would bring the company’s valuation to $170 billion. As a competitor to OpenAI, Anthropic’s valuation has surged rapidly in recent months. In March of this year, the company raised $3.5 billion in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, at which time its valuation stood at $61.5 billion. Although Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei had previously warned of potential national security risks associated with accepting investments from Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, leaked memos indicate that he is now reconsidering the acceptance of Middle Eastern capital.