FTX Halts Sale of $500 Million Stake in AI Startup Anthropic

In an unexpected turn of events, the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange FTX has chosen to postpone the sale of its highly prized $500 million investment in AI firm Anthropic. Sources acquainted with the situation claim that possible bidders were alerted of the stop earlier this month by investment firm Perella Weinberg, which is in charge of managing FTX’s bankruptcy procedures. This choice was made during a protracted period of due research by those interested in buying a share in Anthropic, the firm that created the competing chatbot Claude.

Prior to FTX declaring bankruptcy in November, the internal document showed that FTX and its associated hedge fund Alameda had initially invested $500 million in Anthropic. Early in June, Semafor reports said that FTX was aggressively looking to sell its Anthropic shares for a sum up to “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Anthropic’s Recent Funding Round and Valuation

Anthropic successfully closed a $450 million Series C fundraising round in May, garnering media attention. Leading venture capital company Spark Capital served as the investment round’s lead investor, while other major players included Google, Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures, and Zoom Ventures. Anthropic’s valuation rose to an astonishing $4.6 billion thanks to this substantial infusion of cash, according to a Semafor report from early June.

The surprising move by FTX to halt the sale of its interest in Anthropic has sparked conjecture and queries about the possible causes. The crypto exchange’s continuing financial problems and bankruptcy procedures may have influenced the decision-making process. The pause’s particular circumstances and FTX’s future plans for the investment, however, are still unknown.

Potential buyers in the market were taken aback by FTX’s temporary postponement of the sale of its $500 million investment in Anthropic, the AI business behind the well-known chatbot Claude. The decision to postpone the sale has onlookers scratching their heads in light of FTX’s insolvency and financial predicament.