Generative artificial intelligence is currently a highly sought-after investment in Silicon Valley.

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI start-up specializing in generative AI, is close to securing $300 million in funding, according to sources. The deal could value the company at $5 billion, said the New York Times.

Anthropic, founded in 2021, has already raised $704 million, and is valued at $4 billion by PitchBook.

Anthropic AI

Its AI chatbot is dubbed Claude.

The AI start-up scene has seen a surge of interest in generative AI, with Microsoft recently investing $10 billion in OpenAI, which pioneered the technology with its ChatGPT chatbot. ChatGPT garnered millions of users within weeks of launch, and has quickly achieved cult status with its ability to answer questions in well-worded prose.

Other start-ups like Replika and You.com, also specializing in generative AI, have received investor interest too.

Similarly, Character AI is said to be in the race to pick up funding of $250 million at a valuation of at least $1 billion. Its website depicts multiple AI chatbots based on Character.ai’s models, where anyone can chat with a virtual Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Chinese President Xi Jingping, even the notorious Walter White of “Breaking Bad,” and many other characters real and fictional.

The start-ups and investors are racing to pick the best generative AI team as the future of everything from search engines to photo editors could be remade by this technology.

However, many of these start-ups have yet to figure out how to make money.

Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers and its funding talks are notable due to its earlier backer, cryptocurrency platform FTX, which went bankrupt and faces fraud charges.

Related Story:  Microsoft Extends Partnership, Invests $10B In ChatGPT

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay