Sequoia will invest heavily, Anthropic's financing exceeds $25 billion, with a valuation of up to $350 billion

In the capital race in the field of artificial intelligence, Sequoia Capital is breaking the norm by making a significant investment in OpenAI's main competitor, Anthropic, for the first time. This move not only marks a major shift in the strategy of this veteran venture capital firm but also propels Anthropic's new round of financing to a historic high.

On January 18, according to the Financial Times, insiders revealed that Anthropic's current financing target is as high as $25 billion or even more, led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and American investment firm Coatue, with both investing $1.5 billion each.

Tech giants Microsoft and NVIDIA have committed to invest a total of up to $15 billion, while the remaining funding gap of over $10 billion will be filled by venture capital firms and other investors, including Sequoia Capital. This massive injection of funds will raise Anthropic's valuation to $350 billion, doubling from $170 billion four months ago.

This deal highlights the "full coverage" strategy of top investment firms in the AI sector, no longer limited to betting on a single winner. Sequoia Capital has previously invested in OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI, and now joining the ranks of investors in Anthropic demonstrates strong market confidence in the continued growth potential of leading AI model manufacturers.

Reports indicate that although financing negotiations are still ongoing and the final figures may change, the deal is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Anthropic is actively preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), which could start as early as this year.

Sequoia Capital's Strategic Shift

Reports point out that insiders say Anthropic has not yet finalized which investors will be accepted into this round of financing, and the specific total amount of financing remains uncertain, but the deal is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.

According to reports, Sequoia Capital's proposed investment follows a high-level personnel change at the end of last year. Previously, Roelof Botha, who was responsible for Sequoia Capital, had a cautious attitude towards concentrating investments in a few highly valued startups and was noted for missing out on several previous rounds of financing for Anthropic.

Roelof Botha stated in an interview last year that venture capital is not an asset class, "investing more money in Silicon Valley does not produce more great companies."

However, with Roelof Botha's departure in November last year, partners Pat Grady and Alfred Lin were elected as co-leaders, and Sequoia's investment direction has clearly changed.

As an early investor in Google, Apple, Airbnb, and Stripe, Sequoia had previously participated in last year's financing rounds for OpenAI and Musk's xAI.

Reports indicate that those familiar with Sequoia's thinking say that although venture capital firms typically avoid supporting competing startups in the same field, the enormous financial opportunities presented by artificial intelligence have changed this traditional logic The individual stated: "This (the deal with Anthropic) is a financing round of such a large scale that it has shifted from venture capital investment to equity investment."

Sequoia holds a significant stake in OpenAI and xAI and firmly believes that this is not a winner-takes-all competition, as each company will have its unique capabilities.

Performance Explosion and IPO Preparation

Anthropic owns the Claude chatbot and has captured a lucrative niche in the market by building AI tools aimed at software engineers.

The company's revenue has grown rapidly, with annualized revenue increasing from $1 billion a year ago to approximately $10 billion today, achieving a tenfold increase.

According to previous reports by Bloomberg, as the business scales rapidly, Anthropic has begun preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), which could come as early as this year. The company has hired the law firm Wilson Sonsini to initiate the preparatory work and has had preliminary discussions with banks regarding the public offering.

Not only Anthropic, but also tech unicorns including OpenAI and Musk's SpaceX are laying the groundwork for public offerings. Once these potential IPO projects materialize, they are expected to rank among the largest public offerings in history