Anthropic in talks to raise fresh capital at $170 billion valuation

• Anthropic is looking to raise up to $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation in a funding round led by Iconiq Capital, CNBC has confirmed.
• In March, the artificial intelligence startup raised $3.5 billion at a $61.5 billion valuation.
• Like OpenAI, Anthropic is looking to the Middle East for new capital.

Anthropic is in talks to raise between $3 billion and $5 billion in a funding round led by Iconiq Capital that would value the artificial intelligence startup at $170 billion, CNBC has confirmed.

The OpenAI competitor has been reeling in billions of dollars at a rapidly increasing valuation reflecting investors' thirst for a piece in the fastest growing AI companies. In March, Anthropic closed a $3.5 billion round at a $61.5 billion, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Bloomberg was first to report on the latest talks, which CNBC confirmed with a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named due to confidentiality. Late last week, the Financial Times pegged Anthropic's upcoming valuation at closer to $150 billion, following talks with a number of investors from the Middle East.

A leaked memo shared with Wired indicates that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is reversing course on Middle East funding. He wrote that it's become “substantially harder to stay on the frontier” of AI development without tapping Gulf sovereign wealth, despite previously warning about the national security risks of granting “soft power” to authoritarian regimes.

CNBC reported last year that Anthropic was refusing to take funds from Saudi Arabia as it lined up new investors.

Rivals are also turning to the Middle East. OpenAI still has $30 billion left to raise as part of its planned $40 billion round, and is working with Emirati firm G42 to build a massive data center in Abu Dhabi. OpenAI's latest funding valued the company at about $300 billion.