Did Anthropic Just Say "Checkmate" to OpenAI?

OpenAI may have officially started the artificial intelligence revolution with the release of ChatGPT, but now Anthropic, the owner of the Claude family of large language models (LLMs), has taken the lead.

Anthropic announced yesterday that it has raised a $65 billion Series H funding round, giving the company a post-money valuation of $965 billion.

The round was led by Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, GIC, ICONIQ, and XN. Other significant investors include Blackstone, D.E. Shaw Ventures, and General Catalyst, as well as $15 billion of previous investments from hyperscalers, including $5 billion from Amazon.

Earlier this year, OpenAI closed an incredible $122 billion financing round that only valued the company at $852 billion.

Did Anthropic just say “checkmate” to OpenAI?

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Anthropic now has a higher value

Because both companies now have enormous valuations, investors have begun to apply greater scrutiny to the broader financials.

OpenAI has come under fire for its $1.4 trillion in data center commitments over the next seven to eight years, as well as media reports that the company is struggling to meet internal revenue targets.

Meanwhile, Anthropic seems to be taking a more cautious approach to data center spend. In February, the company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, said on a podcast, "I think it is true we’re spending somewhat less than some of the other players," when talking about data center commitments.

Furthermore, new tools like Claude Code and Claude Cowork have really resonated well with the market.

Anthropic initially delayed the launch of its Mythos LLM because it is supposedly so powerful that it could be a serious cybersecurity threat to any company.

However, Anthropic recently said that it has been developing strong guardrails and will soon roll out Mythos.

While Anthropic does not publicly disclose the total number of users on Claude, estimates range from 18 million to 30 million consumers.

This doesn’t include enterprise customers, a segment in which Anthropic has become a leader. Anthropic is not just growing, but its financials are also becoming more mature.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company’s revenue is projected to double in the second quarter of the year to nearly $11 billion and is on pace to hit an annual revenue run rate of $50 billion in June.

Furthermore, Anthropic could actually turn an operating profit for the first time in the second quarter, which is impressive for any fast-growing start-up, particularly one in AI, where costs are high.

Reports from earlier this year suggest OpenAI may not become profitable until at least 2030.

Is it “checkmate” for OpenAI?

For Anthropic to overtake OpenAI in terms of valuation is a pretty impressive accomplishment, especially considering OpenAI and ChatGPT had the first mover advantage and built a lead that appeared it would never relinquish.

It’s also a big moment to take the lead, given that both companies are reportedly contemplating initial public offerings that could happen as soon as this year.

Just like Anthropic made a big comeback on OpenAI, it’s certainly not impossible that OpenAI could do the same.

But right now, I’d certainly give the upper hand to Anthropic.

The company appears to have tools that are resonating better with enterprise customers, is more disciplined on capital expenditures, and has much better financials.

Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Blackstone. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.