Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence startup, is reportedly currently in the process of raising a new investment round. The company plans to sell the shares of the bankrupt cryptocurrency company FTX for around $1 billion.
However, the company made it clear that it would not accept funds from Saudi Arabia.
The current for-sale stake in Anthropic belongs to FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that recently declared bankruptcy. FTX bought the shares three years ago for $500 million. Due to recent developments in artificial intelligence, the 8% stake is now worth over $1 billion.
Proceeds from the sale of FTX's shares will be used to refund the cryptocurrency exchange's customers. The transaction is expected to close within the next few weeks.
The shares offered for sale are Class B shares without voting rights. The shares are selling at Anthropic's last valuation of $18.4 billion.
Over the past few years, Anthropic has raised nearly $7 billion from tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Salesforce. Anthropic founders Dario and Daniela Amodei reserve the right to object to potential investors.
However, they are not involved in the current fundraising process or discussions with potential investors for FTX's stake.
*This is not investment advice.