Due to FTX’s early investment in Anthropic, the parent company of Claude, an Open AI competitor that is currently witnessing enormous infusion of investment from Google and Amazon, customers of the defunct FTX crypto exchange may someday get their money back.
In April 2022, when the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic was still relatively unknown, FTX invested $500 million in it. However, now that other popular AI chatbots have been made available, Anthropic can be considered a serious challenger.
According to The Information, which cites people familiar with the subject, Anthropic is negotiating a $2 billion investment round this week. This decision follows Amazon’s announcement a few days ago that it would invest up to $4 billion. With the new funding, Anthropic’s worth might rise to between $20 and $30 billion.
Creditors’ group FTX 2.0 Coalition tweeted that a $30 billion valuation for Anthropic could make FTX’s investment worth about $4.5 billion.
The current value of FTX’s Anthropic shares and the time it would take to sell them or for Anthropic to go public are both unknown. Nearly a year after FTX backed the business, Anthropic’s worth has surged thanks to Google’s investment at a $2.7 billion valuation in February.
Recent court documents from FTX state that the exchange requires $4.5 billion to compensate customers. FTX has $11.5 billion in assets, which includes its venture portfolio and cryptocurrency reserves, while customer claims total $16 billion. Users of FTX who are now waiting for payback may find some solace if Anthropic is able to assist in closing the gap.