Anthropic nears $20 billion funding round as tech heads to Super Bowl

Anthropic is reportedly expected to close a $20 billion round of funding next week. The transaction would reportedly give the artificial-intelligence company a post-money valuation of $350 billion. A post-money valuation represents the value of a company after external funding has been added. This funding round is nearing completion as the technology industry prepares for the Super Bowl, which is happening in Silicon Valley this Sunday.

Venture capital firm Menlo Ventures is connected to Anthropic’s growth, having established a $100 million fund with the company in the summer of 2024 to invest in startups. Menlo Ventures has also backed Anthropic through its funds and special purpose vehicles—which are investment entities used to pool capital for specific deals. Venky Ganesan, a longtime venture capitalist at Menlo Ventures, offered a characterization of the tech industry’s presence at the game. Ganesan described the Bay Area gathering as “tech billionaires who got picked last in gym class paying $50,000 to pretend they’re friends with the guys who got picked first.” He added that he, too, was among those picked last in gym class.

The game is drawing technology executives, including YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who reportedly splits his time between Seattle and Santa Monica. Additionally, artificial-intelligence companies—including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, and Meta—are purchasing competing advertisements about their technology, raising the possibility that their respective chief executives may also attend.

These corporate activities come alongside high ticket prices. Tickets for the game are averaging almost $7,000, though some last-minute seats on StubHub were priced closer to $3,600. Among the ticket buyers, the largest group, representing 27%, is traveling from Washington State. The event marks only the third time the Bay Area has hosted the game, following the first occurrence in 1985 and the second 10 years ago.

Why it matters

The convergence of massive capital raises and high-profile industry gatherings in the Bay Area highlights the intensity of the artificial-intelligence race. As companies spend heavily on both advertising and equity, power is increasingly concentrating among a few heavily funded players.