Anthropic has completed a new funding round which sees the AI startup’s value climb to $380bn (more than double since September), as investor appetite for AI continues to surge despite persistent questions around safety, governance and long-term sustainability.

The latest raise brings in an additional $30bn for the company, including investments from Nvidia and Microsoft.

Anthropic has now raised more than $57bn since being founded in 2021, including funding from venture capital firms such as Menlo Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, alongside technology giants Amazon and Google.

The company closed its previous funding round in September at a valuation of $183bn. At the end of last year, Microsoft and Nvidia also said they would invest roughly $15bn in Anthropic, with that capital included in the latest round.

The deal comes as concerns grow about a potential AI investment bubble, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella arguing that concentration of AI’s benefits among a narrow group of companies would be a clear warning sign of a “speculative bubble”. 

Anthropic’s primary rival, OpenAI, is currently valued at $500bn and is in talks over a new funding round that could push its valuation to around $750bn.

Researcher’s cryptic departure raises fresh questions over AI safety

The funding news follows the resignation of an AI safety researcher from Anthropic, who issued a stark warning about the future of the world.

In a resignation letter shared on X, Mrinank Sharma said he was leaving the company amid concerns about AI, bioweapons and the broader global situation.

“The world is in peril. And not just from AI, or bioweapons, but from a whole series of interconnected crises unfolding in this very moment,” Sharma wrote.

Today is my last day at Anthropic. I resigned.

Here is the letter I shared with my colleagues, explaining my decision. pic.twitter.com/Qe4QyAFmxL

— mrinank (@MrinankSharma) February 9, 2026

He said he would instead pursue writing and poetry, adding that he planned to return to the UK. In a follow-up message, he said: “I’ll be moving back to the UK and letting myself become invisible for a period of time.”

Sharma led a team at Anthropic researching AI safeguards. In his letter, he said his work included investigating why genAI systems “suck up to users”, addressing AI-assisted bioterrorism risks, and researching “how AI assistants could make us less human”.

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Despite saying he had enjoyed his time at the company, Sharma added that “the time has come to move on”, and noted he had “repeatedly seen how hard it is to truly let our values govern our actions” – including at Anthropic, which he said “constantly face pressures to set aside what matters most”.

His departure comes in the same week that an OpenAI researcher also resigned, citing concerns about the ChatGPT maker’s decision to deploy adverts in its chatbot.

Anthropic, which was formed in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, has positioned itself as taking a more safety-oriented approach to AI development than some of its rivals. The company recently released commercials criticising OpenAI’s move to introduce advertising, after Altman previously said he hated ads and would use them only as a “last resort”.

Image source: Anthropic