Investors Throw Another $13B On The Anthropic Cash Bonfire

Opinion Anthropic has just pocketed another $13 billion, pushing its valuation to a staggering $183 billion – fresh proof that investors still can't kick their AI habit.

The Series F round, led by ICONIQ and Fidelity Management, "reflects Anthropic's continued momentum," according to the Claude chatbot maker.

It could also be seen as reflecting a collective insanity in the world of finance. While the company boasted impressive growth and claimed its run-rate revenue has increased from $1 billion to $5 billion so far in 2025 alone, $13 billion is still a significant bet to place on a technology more notable for burning cash rather than generating profits.

Anthropic's arch-rival, OpenAI, announced $40 billion in new funding earlier this year, which gave the company a $300 billion post-money valuation. Businesses such as Microsoft and Google have invested billions in the technology, but significant payoffs have yet to materialize. Layoffs, yes. Payoffs, not so much.

Well-placed industry figures have also questioned the rush to pour billions into new datacenters, likening it to the dotcom bubble that burst 25 years ago.

It wasn't only the dotcom boom and bust. The IT world has worked to repair its reputation after the Y2K bug did not result in the catastrophic consequences forecast. Techies would argue that the billions spent dealing with the bug were why nothing bad happened. To the general public, though, the panic was unjustified, and the tech sector was subsequently regarded with suspicion for several years.

• Meta offered one AI researcher at least $10,000,000 to join up
• AI spending spree continues as Microsoft commits $80B for 2025
• Amazon's $100B DC spend similar to entire Costa Rica GDP
• Google just spent $14 billion on servers in 91 days, plans even higher spending soon
• Five years – that's how long Anthropic will store Claude chats unless you opt out

The same thing could be about to happen with AI. However, this time there are differences. IT pros have been sounding the alarm over ill-conceived applications of the service, and the sheer amount of money invested means the technology could be too big to fail.

There are signs of strain on the walls of the AI bubble – Microsoft recently stepped back from billion-dollar plans for a trio of bit barns, as IT decision-makers pondered if AI would deliver sufficient return on investment. However, a never-ending stream of marketing would have customers believe that AI will be a boon for productivity.

A recent report stated that 95 percent of enterprises have gained nothing from their collective $35 to $40 billion in investments on AI services. Not trying hard enough? Or perhaps the emperor really isn't wearing any clothes under all those dollar bills?

Anthropic's funding round is evidence that investor appetite for AI companies has yet to wane. It is also an indicator that the industry might have passed a tipping point beyond which, even if reality attempts to pop over-inflated expectations, the technology really has become too big to fail. ®