Anthropic Is Chasing A Trillion-Dollar Valuation Like SpaceX To Vault Past OpenAI: Report

• If the deal goes through, Anthropic would be only the second private company ever to hit the milestone.
• Retail traders are eying exposure to Anthropic via funds such as KraneShares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX), Fundrise Innovation Fund (VCX), and ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX).
• Anthropic is reportedly planning to IPO in the fourth quarter.

AI startup Anthropic is evaluating raising tens of billions of dollars at an over $1 trillion valuation, The Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

If the round goes through, it would make Anthropic only the second private firm ever to hit the milestone. SpaceX was reportedly valued at $1.25 trillion after it absorbed xAI in February. It would also cross its chief rival OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in March.

Interest has built up in Anthropic in recent months, as every new AI tool it has launched has pressured the shares of enterprise software companies operating in the design and cybersecurity segments. 

Moves from Anthropic are also being closely watched by retail investors, who are buying exposure to the company’s stock through funds such as KraneShares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX), Fundrise Innovation Fund (VCX), ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX), and Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ).

Meanwhile, the rivalry between Anthropic and OpenAI, both of which plan to go public towards the end of the year, has reached a fever pitch. 

OpenAI has been in the news for tweaking its agreement with early investor Microsoft and adding Amazon as a second major cloud computing vendor. Meanwhile, reports said OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar internally warned that the company’s IPO timeline may be too aggressive, putting her at odds with CEO Sam Altman, who is pushing for a fourth-quarter listing.

Earlier this week, Anthropic announced a deal with SpaceX, wherein it would rent more than 300 megawatts of computing capacity from the latter’s Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee.

Last month, Ark Invest said it picked up a $240 million stake in OpenAI through its funds ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK), ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF) and ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW).

Earlier this month, Alphabet said it would invest another $40 billion in the company – Google's stake could easily be worth over $100 billion when Anthropic goes public, according to a Stocktwits calculation. 

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