# AI Era Ends VC Loyalty: 12+ OpenAI Backers Bet on Anthropic Too
The artificial intelligence funding landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as investor loyalty, once a cornerstone of venture capital relationships, crumbles under the weight of competing AI ambitions. With OpenAI finalizing a $100 billion funding round and Anthropic closing a massive $30 billion raise, a striking pattern has emerged: at least a dozen venture capital firms that backed OpenAI are now also investing in its closest competitor, signaling a fundamental change in how the industry approaches AI dominance.[4]
This dual-betting strategy reflects the high stakes of the AI race and investors' growing confidence in Anthropic's ability to challenge OpenAI's market position. The shift underscores a broader truth in venture capital's most competitive space: loyalty has become a luxury the industry can no longer afford when the future of artificial intelligence hangs in the balance.
The End of Venture Capital Exclusivity
For decades, venture capital relationships were built on exclusivity and long-term partnerships. A lead investor in one company would rarely back a direct competitor, viewing it as a conflict of interest or a betrayal of trust. However, the AI revolution has shattered this convention.[4]
The emergence of Anthropic as a formidable competitor to OpenAI has forced major venture firms to reconsider their investment strategies. Firms like Sequoia Capital, GIC (Singapore's sovereign wealth fund), and Coatue, which had backed OpenAI, have now committed significant capital to Anthropic's funding rounds.[1] This represents a pragmatic acknowledgment that the AI market is large enough to support multiple winners and that hedging bets across competing platforms is a rational strategy.
The financial scale of recent funding rounds amplifies this shift. OpenAI's $100 billion round and Anthropic's $30 billion Series G round represent unprecedented capital deployment in private markets.[1][5] For investors managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios, participating in both opportunities is not just possible—it's increasingly necessary to maintain exposure to the AI sector's explosive growth.
Anthropic's Meteoric Rise Justifies Investor Confidence
Anthropic's trajectory has been nothing short of extraordinary, providing clear justification for investors willing to diversify their AI bets. The company's revenue growth has outpaced OpenAI's at nearly every stage of development, demonstrating that the competitive landscape is far from settled.[3]
In December 2024, Anthropic achieved $1 billion in annualized revenue. By July 2025, that figure had quadrupled to $4 billion, and by December 2025, it reached $9 billion.[5] Just two months later, in February 2026, the company's annualized revenue hit $14 billion—a 10-fold increase sustained over three consecutive years.[5] By contrast, OpenAI, which reached $1 billion in annualized sales more than a year earlier in August 2023, has grown its annual revenue by a 3.4x multiple, reaching $20 billion by the end of 2025.[3]
This performance is particularly striking in enterprise and developer markets, where Anthropic has established commanding positions. According to Menlo Ventures data, Anthropic commands 40% of the large language model API market used by companies, significantly outpacing OpenAI's 27% share.[3] In the coding segment, Anthropic's dominance is even more pronounced, with its Claude Code tool capturing 54% of the developer coding market compared to OpenAI's 21%.[3]
The Series G funding round closed on February 12, 2026, valued Anthropic at $380 billion post-money, up from its $183 billion valuation after its Series F round led by ICONIQ.[2][5] This valuation reflects investor confidence that Anthropic's technological capabilities and market execution will continue to drive growth, even as the company operates at an extraordinary 27x revenue multiple.[5]
The Strategic Calculus: Hedging Bets in an Uncertain AI Future
Venture investors backing both OpenAI and Anthropic are effectively hedging against uncertainty in how the AI market will ultimately consolidate. While OpenAI maintains a first-mover advantage and a larger installed user base, Anthropic's superior growth rate and technical capabilities in specific domains have created genuine competitive uncertainty.[3][5]
The involvement of major institutional investors like Sequoia Capital, GIC, Coatue, ICONIQ, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Lightspeed Venture Partners across both companies demonstrates that institutional capital sees value in maintaining optionality.[1][2] These firms manage capital across multiple time horizons and geographies, and their dual investments reflect a portfolio approach to AI dominance rather than a winner-take-all mentality.
Additionally, the scale of capital being deployed has created practical incentives for diversification. A $100 billion round for OpenAI and a $30 billion round for Anthropic represent capital commitments that dwarf traditional venture rounds. For large institutional investors with billions under management, participating in both rounds allows them to maintain meaningful exposure to the AI sector without over-concentrating risk in a single company.[1][5]
What This Means for the AI Industry's Future
The breakdown of venture capital loyalty signals a maturing competitive landscape in AI. Rather than a binary competition between OpenAI and Anthropic, investors are increasingly pricing in scenarios where both companies succeed at scale, along with other well-capitalized competitors like Google, Microsoft, and emerging players.[5]
This shift also reflects genuine technological uncertainty. While OpenAI's ChatGPT established the consumer AI market, Anthropic's Claude has proven superior in enterprise and developer applications.[3] The fact that investors are willing to back both companies simultaneously suggests they believe different AI platforms will dominate different segments of the market.
The financial implications are profound. Anthropic's path to a projected initial public offering in the second half of 2026 is now supported not just by a single investor base but by a diversified coalition of major institutional players.[1] Similarly, OpenAI's rumored $1 trillion valuation at IPO reflects investor appetite for multiple AI winners rather than a single dominant platform.[1]
However, this investor diversification also masks underlying fragility. Anthropic's CEO has acknowledged that the company operates with razor-thin margins between transcendent success and insolvency, with the difference measured in quarters.[5] For investors betting on both OpenAI and Anthropic, the real risk is not that one company fails—it's that both succeed but neither generates sufficient returns to justify their astronomical valuations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are OpenAI's investors now backing Anthropic?
Venture investors are backing both companies because Anthropic has demonstrated superior growth rates and market dominance in key segments like enterprise and developer tools.[3][5] Rather than viewing this as a zero-sum competition, investors are hedging their bets across multiple AI platforms that may dominate different market segments. The scale of funding rounds ($100 billion for OpenAI and $30 billion for Anthropic) is large enough that major institutional investors can participate in both without over-concentrating risk.[1]
How fast is Anthropic growing compared to OpenAI?
Anthropic has achieved 10x annual revenue growth over three consecutive years, reaching $14 billion in annualized revenue by February 2026, while OpenAI has grown at a 3.4x rate over the same period, reaching $20 billion.[3][5] Anthropic reached $1 billion in annualized revenue more than a year after OpenAI but has since accelerated past OpenAI's growth trajectory.[3]
What is Anthropic's current valuation?
Anthropic closed its Series G funding round on February 12, 2026, at a post-money valuation of $380 billion.[5] This represents a significant increase from its Series F valuation of $183 billion.[2] The company is trading at approximately 27x its annualized revenue, an extraordinarily high multiple that reflects investor confidence in its continued growth.[5]
Where does Anthropic dominate the market?
Anthropic holds 40% of the large language model API market used by enterprises, compared to OpenAI's 27%.[3] In the coding market, Anthropic's dominance is even more pronounced, with its Claude Code tool capturing 54% of the developer market compared to OpenAI's 21%.[3] The company's strength in enterprise and developer applications has been key to attracting investor confidence.
When will Anthropic go public?
Anthropic is expected to pursue an initial public offering in the second half of 2026, potentially alongside OpenAI's planned listing.[1] Both companies are targeting IPO valuations in the hundreds of billions, with OpenAI aiming for a $1 trillion valuation.[1]
What risks does Anthropic face despite its growth?
Despite its impressive growth, Anthropic operates with extremely thin margins between success and failure, with the difference measured in quarters according to its CEO.[5] The company's 27x revenue multiple leaves little room for execution errors, and it faces six significant structural challenges, including competition from well-capitalized rivals, declining inference costs, and the need to maintain near-perfect execution through 2028.[5]