Alphabet’s Anthropic Stake Jumps to Around $124 Billion

The Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

The value of Alphabet Inc.’s stake in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC has soared to around $124 billion, making it one of the most lucrative bets in the company’s history.

The Google parent disclosed in a filing Thursday that the value of its investments in unidentified private companies totaled roughly $124.3 billion as of June 30. The filing notes that this value is “primarily” driven by one investment, which is a reference to Alphabet’s stake in Anthropic, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The company said it recorded about $77 billion in unrealized gains from its private investments in the second quarter, without providing further details in the filing.

Google has emerged as one of Anthropic’s biggest backers over the past several years. The tech giant first invested $3 billion in the startup starting in 2023. Earlier this year, it agreed to invest as much as $40 billion more, consisting of $10 billion upfront and a potential $30 billion in additional funding tied to operational and financial milestones through 2030.

Alphabet’s filing on Thursday showed the remaining commitment has fallen to $20 billion as of June 30 from $30 billion at the end of the first quarter, suggesting that Google invested another $10 billion in the startup last quarter.

Anthropic has emerged as OpenAI’s chief rival in developing cutting-edge AI models, attracting investment from both Google and Amazon.com Inc. as investors race to secure stakes in the industry’s leading startups. Anthropic is preparing for a highly anticipated initial public offering, which could come as soon as October, Bloomberg News has reported.

Alphabet’s stake in Anthropic has become one of the most valuable assets on its balance sheet. Along with gains from other private holdings, including SpaceX, the investment helped drive nearly $100 billion in total gains for the second quarter, fueling a surge in Alphabet’s net income.

Google said the company could not share details beyond what appeared in its quarterly filing. Anthropic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.