Anthropic has received multiple preemptive offers to raise approximately $50 billion at a valuation between $850 billion and $900 billion. If the round closes at those terms, Anthropic would more than double its February valuation of $380 billion — and match or surpass OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time. A board meeting in May is expected to produce a definitive decision.
The Numbers Are Staggering
The round is expected to total $40 billion to $50 billion. Investor demand appears to be much higher. One institutional investor prepared to commit $5 billion has reportedly not yet secured a meeting with Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao. The company is, by all accounts, turning away money.
Anthropic's revenue trajectory explains the frenzy. The company announced earlier this month that its annualized revenue had surpassed $30 billion. Sources now say the current run rate is closer to $40 billion — a dramatic acceleration from roughly $9 billion at the end of 2025. That growth rate is nearly unprecedented in enterprise software history.
A large portion of the revenue is driven by AI coding. Claude Code and Cowork have become the dominant enterprise AI coding platforms. Investors believe the company is only scratching the surface. Expansion into finance, life sciences, and healthcare represents massive additional opportunity.
The IPO Question
Sources say Anthropic is finding it increasingly difficult to resist raising more capital in what could be its final private round before a potential IPO. The company had previously been declining offers at $800 billion or higher. The shift toward accepting a round suggests the board sees strategic value in building a war chest before going public.
An IPO could come as soon as October, according to earlier reports. If Anthropic goes public at $900 billion or above, it would be one of the largest technology IPOs in history — rivaling or exceeding the scale of Saudi Aramco's 2019 debut.
How Anthropic Got Here
Anthropic's trajectory over the past six months has been extraordinary. The company:
Surpassed OpenAI in annualized revenue. Won Claude Code dominance among enterprise developers. Secured $5 billion from Amazon with $100 billion in AWS commitments. Landed up to $40 billion from Google with 5 gigawatts of TPU capacity. Briefed the Trump administration on its Mythos model. Took a principled stand against unrestricted Pentagon use — and survived the backlash. And built an agent marketplace testing real-world commerce between AI agents.
Each move reinforced the narrative that Anthropic is not just competing with OpenAI but increasingly winning the enterprise market — the market that matters most for long-term revenue durability.
The OpenAI Comparison
If Anthropic raises at $900 billion, it would surpass OpenAI's $852 billion February valuation. The comparison is striking. OpenAI raised $122 billion in its last round. Anthropic would raise less than half that amount at a comparable or higher valuation — reflecting the market's view that Anthropic's revenue quality and growth trajectory may be superior.
OpenAI's revenue is heavily weighted toward consumers through ChatGPT. Anthropic's revenue is approximately 80 percent enterprise, producing higher retention and lower churn. For investors evaluating long-term value, enterprise revenue commands a premium.
OpenAI is also navigating significant distractions. The Musk trial threatens to unwind its corporate structure. Executive departures have rattled confidence. And the company recently had to renegotiate its Microsoft deal to resolve conflicts with its Amazon partnership. Anthropic, by contrast, is executing with minimal drama.
What It Means
A $900 billion valuation would make Anthropic one of the ten most valuable private companies in history. It would validate the thesis that enterprise AI — not consumer chatbots — is the most valuable business model in the AI era. And it would confirm that the AI industry now has two companies operating at a scale previously reserved for the largest technology companies on Earth.
The May board meeting will determine whether Anthropic takes the money. Given the demand, the growth rate, and the strategic advantages of entering an IPO with a $50 billion cash cushion, the question may not be whether to raise — but how much to accept.
