By Kate Clark

Anthropic is raising more than $30 billion at a $900 billion valuation as the AI giant seeks funding ahead of its widely expected initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, along with rival OpenAI, have collectively raised more than $220 billion in funding since the beginning of last year, according to company announcements, not including Anthropic's new funding. The AI giants' mad-dash for funding has cemented a new trend in venture capital, in which a small handful of companies are absorbing an unprecedented share of VC funding.

In the first quarter of 2026, OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as xAI, Waymo and Databricks, raised about 75% of total venture investment, according to PitchBook, a level of concentration the data firm said had no modern precedent.

Anthropic's fundraise is co-led by Greenoaks Capital, Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer and Altimeter Capital, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal has not closed and the company could end up raising significantly more than $30 billion, one of the people said.

Spokespeople for Greenoaks and Sequoia declined to comment. Spokespeople for Altimeter and Dragoneer did not respond to requests for comment. The Financial Times earlier reported details of Anthropic's raise.

Investors are aggressively pursuing these companies as it becomes clear that a small handful of AI labs have taken the lead in the AI race to become the foundational platforms underlying a new generation of technology. Their funds have grown larger in recent years, as a similar trend takes over the venture capital industry.

In the first quarter of this year, six venture firms, including OpenAI backers Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital, raised $36.4 billion, or more than 75% of the quarter's total capital, per PitchBook.

Venture firms are concentrating huge bets in OpenAI and Anthropic, betting that their rapid growth rates will continue.

Anthropic is projecting a $50 billion revenue run-rate, a forecast of annual revenue based on short-term sales, by the end of the second quarter, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025, the Journal has reported.

Anthropic's new raise follows another $30 billion funding only three months ago, bringing the total amount the company has raised to over $90 billion since the beginning of 2025. That includes new investments from Google and Amazon, which could grow even larger if the company reaches certain milestones.

Since the beginning of last year, OpenAI has raised $162 billion, including a $122 billion round earlier this year that was the largest in Silicon Valley's history, as well as a $40 billion investment in early 2025.

Write to Kate Clark at kate.clark@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 15, 2026 11:30 ET (15:30 GMT)

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