Anthropic’s Valuation Surges as Fidelity Increases Investment Amid AI Boom
Staff Editor Anthropic CEO Attends Tech Show as Fidelity Boosts Investment
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT rival Claude, saw its shares marked up by nearly 25% last year by Fidelity Investments, according to a recent SEC filing. This development comes as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made an appearance at the Viva Technology show in Paris on May 22, 2024.
The markup follows Fidelity’s acquisition of Anthropic shares during FTX bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year. In March, Fidelity secured $884 million worth of Anthropic stock, positioning itself as a rare investor backing both Anthropic and its competitor, OpenAI.
The Fidelity Series Growth Company Fund increased the price of Anthropic shares from $30 to $37.44 between August and November. When approached for comment, both Fidelity and Anthropic declined to provide details on the investment.
Current market trends suggest an even higher valuation for Anthropic. The company’s shares are trading at $51.44 on secondary markets, implying a valuation of $33.2 billion. Moreover, Anthropic is reportedly in advanced discussions to raise $2 billion in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, potentially pushing its valuation to $60 billion.
Fidelity’s dual investment strategy in both Anthropic and OpenAI mirrors its early investments in ride-sharing rivals Uber and Lyft. This approach comes despite OpenAI’s previous requests for funds to avoid investing in competitors, including Anthropic.
OpenAI, for its part, continues to attract significant investment. Fidelity participated in OpenAI’s $6.6 billion funding round in October, holding at least $100 million in OpenAI stock. Recent reports suggest that OpenAI is in talks with Softbank for additional funding, which could value the company at an impressive $300 billion.
As the AI race heats up, these developments underscore the growing investor interest in the sector and the strategic positioning of key players like Fidelity in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
