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Anthropic Nears $2 Billion Funding Deal, Valued at $60 Billion

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AI startup Anthropic is in advanced talks to secure $2 billion in additional funding, which would value the company at $60 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. The new round of funding is being led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. This follows a previous $4 billion investment from Amazon, which included convertible notes that will be converted into equity during this funding round.

The latest funding will bring Anthropic’s total funding to $6 billion, marking a significant increase in the company’s valuation from $18 billion in a 2023 fundraise led by Menlo Ventures. Anthropic, a major competitor to OpenAI in the generative AI space, has seen substantial growth, with its annualized revenue reaching approximately $875 million. The company sells access to its AI models both directly and through third-party cloud services, including Amazon Web Services.

Founded by former OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic’s rapid growth is part of a broader AI arms race sparked by the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, launched in November 2022. In addition to Amazon, Anthropic also received a $2 billion investment from Alphabet in 2023.

The recent surge in AI-related investments is part of a broader trend, with AI startups accounting for nearly half of the venture capital raised in the U.S. last year, according to PitchBook data.

Macquarie to Invest Up to $5 Billion in Applied Digital’s AI Data Centers

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Australia’s Macquarie Group has committed to investing up to $5 billion in Applied Digital’s high-performance computing business, acquiring a 15% stake in the company amid surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. The announcement, made on Tuesday, sent Applied Digital’s shares soaring by 20% in pre-market trading.

Macquarie’s asset management division has initially pledged $900 million to develop a state-of-the-art data center campus in North Dakota. Additionally, Applied Digital retains the right of first refusal to access an additional $4.1 billion in investments for future data center projects over the next 30 months.

Wes Cummins, CEO of Dallas-based Applied Digital, emphasized that the investment ensures sufficient equity to construct cutting-edge data centers capable of handling the high-power demands of AI applications. The company will use the funds to repay debt incurred during the development of its North Dakota facilities and recover over $300 million of its equity investment in the project.

The move comes amid a broader boom in AI-driven investments, spurred by the rapid growth of generative AI models such as ChatGPT. Computing infrastructure providers like Applied Digital have witnessed substantial interest from businesses seeking to develop their own AI models and gain a competitive edge.

In line with this trend, Microsoft recently announced plans to allocate $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to AI data centers, reflecting the growing computational needs of the industry.

Applied Digital has seen its shares triple over the past two years as investors bet on robust growth in AI and data center infrastructure. The company is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings later on Tuesday.

 

OpenAI Introduces ‘Tasks’ Beta Feature to Compete with Virtual Assistants

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On Tuesday, OpenAI unveiled a new beta feature called “Tasks” for ChatGPT, marking the company’s entry into the virtual assistant arena, aiming to compete with established platforms like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. This feature allows ChatGPT users to request actions to be performed at a specified future time, such as one-time reminders for events like concert ticket sales or recurring tasks such as daily weather updates or weekly news briefings.

Based on interactions with users, ChatGPT will also proactively suggest tasks that users can choose to accept or decline. This new function broadens the scope of what ChatGPT can offer, making it more assistant-like, similar to Alexa and Siri.

The launch follows a growing trend where AI-powered systems are reshaping virtual assistant functionalities. Amazon, for example, has been revamping its Alexa service with generative AI capabilities to remain competitive, while Apple has incorporated its “Apple Intelligence” technology into Siri. In collaboration with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Apple now seeks user consent before sending queries to OpenAI’s services.

OpenAI’s “Tasks” feature will be available to Plus, Team, and Pro users globally in the coming days, with the web platform being the first to get access.