AI startup Anthropic raises $450M from Spark, Google, Salesforce

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI startup, raised $450 million in Series C funding led by Spark Capital, the company announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: The startup has been building a war chest as it competes with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

Details: Google, Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures and Zoom Ventures also participated in the round, which values the startup at more than $4 billion with $1 billion in total raised, according to PitchBook.

• The company declined a request to confirm its overall valuation.
• Spark Capital general partner Yasmin Razavi has joined Anthropic's board.
• "We are thrilled that these leading investors and technology companies are supporting Anthropic's mission: AI research and products that put safety at the frontier," CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement.

Of note: Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in Anthropic rival OpenAI, as big tech's race to develop AI heats up.

Catch up quick: A group of former OpenAI executives founded Anthropic in 2021. Its early angel investors include Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

• Earlier this year, the startup launched an AI chatbot named Claude that competes with ChatGPT.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add additional information.