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According to AIbase, the top Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is preparing to break the industry taboo of not investing in competitors in the same sector, participating in a large-scale funding round for the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. This move has caused a stir in the venture capital community, as Sequoia has previously invested in OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI.
Breaking the Single Bet Tradition
The venture capital industry has traditionally favored betting on only one "winner" in a particular field. In 2020, Sequoia abandoned its investment in Finix due to conflicts of interest (competing with Stripe in its portfolio) and returned $21 million. However, this investment in Anthropic, the developer of Claude, marks a fundamental shift in Sequoia's stance on portfolio conflicts.
Funding Details and Valuation Surge
According to the Financial Times, this round of funding was led by Singapore's government investment company (GIC) and Coatue, each contributing $1.5 billion. Anthropic's target fundraising amount reached $25 billion, pushing its valuation to $35 billion—more than double the $17 billion valuation four months ago. Previously, giants such as Microsoft and NVIDIA had committed to invest.
Complex Relationships and Executive Changes
Sequoia's move is particularly notable because OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has explicitly stated that investors who make non-passive investments in competitors will lose access to confidential information from OpenAI. Although Sequoia has a deep relationship with Altman (from Loopt to discovering Stripe), and its previous investment in xAI was more seen as support for Musk personally, this direct bet on Anthropic clearly touches on the core of competition.
This strategic shift is believed to be related to leadership changes within Sequoia. Recently, Sequoia's global leader Roelof Botha left, and Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who previously led the Finix deal, took over as co-chairmen, which may have prompted an aggressive shift in investment strategy. Additionally, it has been reported that Anthropic is planning to go public as early as this year.