Report: Google plans to increase investment in Anthropic, which may be valued at over $350 billion

In the fierce competition in the field of artificial intelligence, tech giants are accelerating their alignment, and Google seems ready to double down once again. According to insiders, Google is in early negotiations to increase its investment in the AI startup Anthropic, a potential deal that could push the latter's valuation above $350 billion, further intensifying the competitive landscape with Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

Media reports indicate that this potential new investment is still under negotiation, and the form is uncertain. Possible scenarios include strategic investments from Google providing more cloud computing services to Anthropic, convertible notes, or a round of priced financing early next year.

This round of negotiations highlights the increasingly clear division of camps in the AI field. Amazon and Google have become key supporters of Anthropic, while Microsoft and Nvidia have invested billions into its main competitor, OpenAI. If Google finalizes this investment, it will further solidify its core position within the Anthropic camp and send a clear signal to the market: it is determined to secure a favorable position in this technology race that defines the future.

Previously, Google had invested over $3 billion in Anthropic, holding about 14% of the shares. Anthropic raised $13 billion in a funding round in September this year, with a valuation of $138 billion at that time. The newly reported valuation target implies that Anthropic's market value is expected to grow more than double in less than six months.

AI Giants Align, Cloud Computing Becomes a Key Battlefield

Google's intention to increase its investment is closely related to its strategic layout in the cloud computing field. In October this year, Google announced a cloud computing agreement worth tens of billions of dollars with Anthropic, allowing the latter to use up to one million of Google's self-developed TPU chips. This deal not only provides Anthropic with powerful computing support but also locks in key AI customers for Google Cloud.

However, the partnership with Anthropic is not exclusive. Amazon has also invested $14 billion in Anthropic, which uses AWS's custom chips (Trainium2) to build and deploy its AI models. Last month, Anthropic stated that it remains "committed to working with our primary training partner and cloud service provider, Amazon." This strategic layout across multiple cloud platforms reflects the flexibility and complexity leading AI companies have in acquiring massive computing resources.

Anthropic's Financial Path: High Growth Expectations and Capital Efficiency

Anthropic has recently significantly raised its revenue expectations, forecasting it could reach $70 billion by 2028, an increase of over 182 times from last year. Based on this growth trajectory, its target valuation could reach $300 billion to $400 billion.

Compared to OpenAI, Anthropic has an advantage in capital efficiency. Although OpenAI is expected to generate $13 billion in revenue this year, its cash burn is projected to be more than three times that of Anthropic. By 2027, OpenAI is expected to consume $35 billion in cash, while Anthropic is expected to achieve $3 billion in free cash flow and generate up to $17 billion in cash by 2028 It shows that its enterprise customer-oriented model may bring higher efficiency.

The company focuses on enterprise API sales, expected to contribute over 80% of revenue by 2028. Its programming assistant Claude Code's annualized revenue is nearing $1 billion, driving the company's overall annualized revenue close to $7 billion last month