Anthropic Eyes $900B Round, Beating OpenAI

May 06, 2026 – The Claude maker is targeting a valuation that overtakes OpenAI. Its revenue has tripled in three months. A potential IPO looms in October 2026.

Anthropic is on the verge of a historic milestone. The AI startup is weighing a fresh funding round worth up to $50 billion, according to TechCrunch. The round targets a valuation of $900 billion or above. If successful, Anthropic would become the most valuable private AI company in the world. It would overtake OpenAI, which currently holds that title at $852 billion.

The Deal: What Is Happening?

TechCrunch reports that Anthropic has asked investors to submit allocations within 48 hours. Sources say the round could close within two weeks. Anthropic’s most recent valuation was $380 billion, set in February 2026. Therefore, a $900 billion figure would more than double that amount in just three months.

Investor appetite is intense. At least one institution has prepared a $5 billion commitment. However, it has yet to secure a meeting with Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao. That fact alone signals how tightly the company controls access. Meanwhile, some early backers from 2024 and before are choosing to sit out. They are reportedly waiting for the anticipated IPO instead.

Bloomberg confirms Anthropic is entertaining multiple preemptive offers at valuations between $850 billion and $900 billion. Bids had arrived earlier at an $800 billion valuation. The company had resisted those proposals. However, intensifying pressure to secure capital ahead of a potential IPO changed the calculus. A definitive decision is expected at a board meeting in May.

Revenue: The Real Driver

The valuation jump is not speculation alone. It is backed by extraordinary revenue growth. According to CNBC, Anthropic’s annualised revenue run rate (ARR) stood at roughly $9 billion at the end of 2025. By March 2026, that figure had crossed $30 billion. This represents more than a threefold increase in under three months.

Furthermore, The Next Web notes that no American technology company has grown at this pace before. Enterprise customers now account for approximately 80% of all revenue. More than 1,000 businesses spend over $1 million per year on Anthropic services. This sticky, recurring base gives investors confidence in the growth story.

“No American technology company has grown at this rate. Enterprise customers now account for 80% of Anthropic’s revenue.”

Valuation History: A Steep Ascent

Anthropic’s valuation trajectory is striking. In March 2025, the company was worth $61.5 billion. By September 2025, it had climbed to $183 billion. A February 2026 round pushed it to $380 billion. The current target of $900 billion represents a nearly 15x increase in just 14 months.

Additionally, Anthropic shares have already been trading at an implied $1 trillion valuation on secondary markets. That is highly unusual. Private funding rounds are typically priced above secondary market levels, not below them. This inversion signals just how much institutional demand exceeds available supply.

The Products Driving Momentum

Two products explain the investor enthusiasm. The first is Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding assistant. It has driven rapid adoption across enterprise software teams globally. The second is Claude Mythos Preview, launched on April 7, 2026.

Mythos is a cybersecurity-focused AI model. It has drawn serious attention from U.S. government officials, bank executives, and senior tech leaders. The White House has reportedly raised concerns about computer access. Specifically, officials worry about disruption if more users join the platform. This level of government attention underscores Mythos’s mission-critical status and its commercial potential.

The new funding round is partly designed to address this. Anthropic needs to significantly expand its computing infrastructure. Fresh capital would allow it to purchase the hardware required to run Mythos at scale without disrupting existing government users.

Big Tech Has Already Bet Big

Anthropic is not building alone. It has attracted major commitments from two of the world’s largest technology companies. Google has pledged up to $40 billion in investment. Amazon has committed up to $25 billion, plus dedicated cloud infrastructure. Together, these deals unlock access to an estimated 10 gigawatts of compute capacity.

Moreover, a joint arrangement between Google and Broadcom will bring an additional 5 gigawatts of compute capacity online. Amazon is providing a further 5 gigawatts through its own infrastructure deal. This gives Anthropic one of the largest private compute pipelines in the AI industry.

IPO on the Horizon

This funding round may be Anthropic’s last before going public. Bloomberg reports a potential public listing as early as October 2026. The company is reportedly in early discussions with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley. The IPO could raise approximately $60 billion. At a $900 billion pre-IPO valuation, this would rank among the largest technology public offerings in history.

Furthermore, OpenAI is also expected to go public in 2026. That sets up a parallel race between the two AI giants. Both companies are competing for the same pool of institutional capital. Whichever IPO closes first and at a higher valuation could define the decade’s tech narrative.

The Bigger Picture: OpenAI’s Crown Is Slipping

Anthropic began as a challenger. Its founders left OpenAI in 2021 to build safer AI. For years, OpenAI led every funding metric by a wide margin. OpenAI closed a record $122 billion round in March 2026. That deal set a valuation of $852 billion, then the highest ever for a private AI company.

However, that record may not stand for long. According to BetaNews, Anthropic’s ARR of $30 billion already surpasses OpenAI’s $25 billion figure. Its valuation target exceeds OpenAI’s current mark by $48 billion. Additionally, its enterprise revenue base is more concentrated and recurring. The AI race has a new frontrunner, and the industry is taking notice.