Anthropic, the company behind the AI model Claude, has recently achieved a valuation of $380 billion, which is more than double its valuation of $183 billion from its last funding round in September 2025. This strong financial growth indicates significant investor confidence and positions Anthropic as a formidable competitor in the AI market, particularly against giants like OpenAI, which conducted a funding round exceeding $40 billion last year, led by SoftBank. Anthropic's latest funding round is recorded as the second largest in the history of the tech sector, highlighting the intense competition in the artificial intelligence field.

The high costs associated with developing and training AI models are a major factor driving both Anthropic and OpenAI to continually seek substantial funding. The companies are required to invest heavily in computational resources, such as Nvidia's graphic processors, to support their AI development objectives. Additionally, they face competition from Google, which has announced investment expenditures reaching up to $185 billion this year as it rapidly develops its Gemini product line, projected to surpass 650 million active monthly users by January 2026.

This fierce competition and the significant funding raised raise questions regarding the sustainability and scalability of AI businesses amidst rising operational costs and the ongoing technological arms race. Industry experts anticipate that the current year could be historic for the American stock market, influenced significantly by the rapid advancements and investments in the AI sector, putting pressure on existing players and newcomers in the space to innovate continuously.