Anthropic Eyes $900B Valuation in $50B Round That Would Top OpenAI

Anthropic is weighing a fresh funding round that would crown it the most valuable AI company in the world. The Claude maker has received multiple preemptive offers totaling $40 billion to $50 billion at a valuation between $850 billion and $900 billion, according to reporting from TechCrunch, Bloomberg and CNBC published April 29-30. A definitive decision is expected at a board meeting in May 2026.

If finalized at the upper end of the range, the round would more than double the $380 billion valuation Anthropic locked in just three months ago, in February. It would also push Anthropic past OpenAI, which closed a record $122 billion round at an $852 billion post-money valuation earlier this year. The two labs have been trading the title of most valuable AI startup for over a year, but a $900 billion mark would put Anthropic firmly in the lead.

The numbers behind the demand are extraordinary. Anthropic's annual revenue run rate crossed $30 billion this month and is now closer to $40 billion, up from roughly $9 billion at the end of 2025. Much of that growth is being driven by Claude Code and the company's newer Cowork platform, which together have turned Anthropic into the default coding partner for a swath of enterprise customers and AI-native startups.

Investor enthusiasm is reportedly so intense that Anthropic has set a 48-hour allocation deadline for backers, and at least one institutional investor prepared to commit $5 billion has not yet secured a meeting with CFO Krishna Rao. Bloomberg first reported the talks; TechCrunch said the round could close within two weeks. Anthropic has not yet accepted any offers.

The financing would arrive at a moment when Anthropic's strategic posture is shifting. Earlier this month, Google committed up to $40 billion in additional investment, and the company has signaled that it is preparing for a possible IPO. If it materializes at $900 billion, this round may be the last private financing before Anthropic goes public — and a clear signal that the AI capex arms race shows no sign of cooling.