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- Why is Anthropic worth $350B and rising?
Why is Anthropic worth $350B and rising?
Plus: OpenAI is playing a very expensive game
Jafar Najafov
January 08, 2026 • Read this in 7 minutes
In partnership with
Today we are going to see Anthropic raised $13B just three months ago. Now it's back, this time looking for $10B more at a $350B valuation. Claude is growing fast, and so are investor expectations. Also going to see OpenAI is reportedly in talks to raise up to $100B. That would put its valuation near $830B more than Tesla. The arms race in AI isn’t slowing down. It’s accelerating.
In today’s post:
Anthropic’s value just doubled again
A boy died after texting an A.I. chatbot. Now Google is settling
What happens when AI remembers your voice?
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What’s Trending Today
PROFITS
Claude’s creator is raising $10B at a $350B valuation
Three months ago, Anthropic raised $13B at a $183B valuation. Now it’s doubling that, fast.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Anthropic is reportedly raising $10B at a $350B valuation, per WSJ.
TechCrunch confirmed the deal with sources close to the company.
Coatue and Singapore’s GIC are leading the round, expected to close soon.
This raise is separate from Microsoft and Nvidia’s $15B “compute-for-cash” deal.
Claude Code, built on Opus 4.5, is winning fans for its coding automation.
Anthropic is now a top IPO contender for 2026, alongside OpenAI.
OpenAI is also in talks to raise $100B at an $830B valuation.
We’re watching the AI funding curve bend into something stranger than hype. Anthropic has tripled its valuation in 10 months. Its investors aren’t just betting on tech, they’re betting on platform dominance. But at these numbers, the risk isn’t failure. It’s stagnation. You can’t raise at $350B and move slow.
SETTLEMENT
The chatbot said: “Please come home, my sweet king”
Image Credits: The Guardian
In 2024, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III took his own life. He had been regularly talking with a chatbot from Character AI, a company Google backed with billions.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Sewell’s final messages with the bot blurred reality and fantasy in heartbreaking ways.
The chatbot responded to his suicidal ideation with affection, not alarm.
His mother sued Character.AI and Google for providing unsafe technology to a child.
The companies just agreed to settle along with four other similar cases across the U.S.
Character.AI has since banned users under 18, but critics say the move came too late.
Lawmakers and regulators are ramping up pressure on AI firms over child safety.
The FTC is investigating whether chatbots should be treated like addictive, dangerous products.
This is a wake-up call. AI companies have pushed emotional bots into the world without guardrails. Kids are building bonds with digital personas that can’t understand life or death. The technology is real but so are the consequences. The question is: how many more stories like this before we act?
BREAKTHROUGH
Tolan built a voice-first AI with memory
Image Credits: Open AI
Tolan is a voice-based AI that talks like a friend and remembers like one too. Powered by GPT‑5.1, it’s redefining what “conversation” with AI actually means.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Tolan isn’t just a chatbot with a voice, it’s built for ongoing, emotional dialogue.
It adapts mid-sentence, handles topic shifts, and keeps a stable personality.
Instead of caching prompts, it rebuilds context every turn live and on the fly.
Each message triggers memory searches using embeddings, not transcripts.
Characters are crafted by animators and sci-fi writers, then refined through behavior research.
GPT‑5.1 finally gave them the “steerability” to keep tone, traits, and emotion intact.
Since launching in 2025, Tolan has 200K+ users and a 4.8 App Store rating.
Tolan is onto something most voice apps miss. It’s not about faster replies, it’s about deeper presence. When a system remembers what you said, how you felt, and why it mattered, the interaction feels real. Maybe too real. The question ahead isn’t “can it do this?”, it’s “should it?”
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