February proved that in just one short month, AI valuations can skyrocket to astonishing levels. The year is still young, yet AI startups are already reaching record-breaking valuations. The most notable example? SoftBank’s rumored $40 billion investment in OpenAI, which would value the company at nearly $300 billion—almost double its valuation from October.
And OpenAI isn’t alone in this meteoric rise.
Anthropic’s $61.5 Billion Valuation
The most eye-catching funding round recently came from Anthropic, which closed a $3.5 billion round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing its valuation to a staggering $61.5 billion.
- Just a year ago, Anthropic was valued at $18.5 billion—this marks a tripling of its worth.
- The new valuation places Anthropic ahead of Elon Musk’s xAI, which reached a $50 billion valuation in November after a $6 billion Series C.
- Given the pace of AI fundraising, how long before xAI raises at an even larger valuation?
Anthropic isn’t the only startup securing massive rounds. Other recent AI funding deals include:
- Together AI – Raised $305 million in a round led by General Catalyst and Saudi Arabia’s Prosperity7 Ventures, valuing it at $3.3 billion—a 160% jump from its previous valuation of $1.25 billion in March 2023.
- Harvey (Legal AI Startup) – Secured $300 million from Sequoia Capital, bringing its valuation to $3 billion—doubling its value in just 200 days.
- Safe Superintelligence (SSI) – Reportedly in talks to raise $1 billion led by Greenoaks Capital Partners, pushing its valuation to $30 billion—a 6x increase from its $5 billion valuation in September.
- Thinking Machines Lab – The new AI venture by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is reportedly planning a $1 billion raise at a $9 billion valuation, according to Business Insider.
Are AI Valuations Outpacing Reality?
Many of these AI startups have minimal revenue—or even no product—yet their valuations continue to soar. Investors, desperate for liquidity in a slow IPO and M&A market, are pouring capital into AI despite the industry’s uncertain long-term monetization models.
Safe Superintelligence, for example, has no revenue and no commercial AI product, yet its valuation has climbed by $5 billion per month for five months straight.
The AI market remains in an embryonic stage, meaning it could take a decade or more for some of these investments to generate returns—if they ever do.
VCs are betting big on AI, hoping it will reshape industries before a true revenue model is proven. But as history has shown, tech trends can shift dramatically, and many high-flying valuations have come crashing down before.
For now, though, AI’s valuation explosion shows no signs of stopping.
