Anthropic leapfrogs OpenAI as the most valuable AI startup — and drops a new model

Anthropic has raised $65 billion in Series H funding at a $965 billion valuation, surpassing OpenAI to become the most valuable AI startup. The company also released Claude Opus 4.8, a new version of its large language model described as a 'modest but tangible improvement' over the previous Opus 4.7.

The $65 billion Series H round values Anthropic at $965 billion, ahead of OpenAI's most recent valuation. Claude Opus 4.8 is the latest model in Anthropic's Opus line, with the company emphasizing incremental improvements in performance. No specific technical benchmarks were released alongside the announcement.

Anthropic previously released Opus 4.8 earlier this year, described similarly as a modest upgrade. The new valuation makes Anthropic the highest-valued private AI company, reflecting investor confidence in its safety-focused approach. The company was founded by former OpenAI employees and has positioned itself as a competitor to OpenAI and other frontier AI labs.