Anthropic forecasts more than $850 mln in annualized revenue rate by 2024-end - report

Dec 26 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has projected it will generate more than $850 million in annualized revenue by the end of 2024, the Information reported on Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the company’s financial picture. Three months ago the company told some investors it was generating revenue at a $100 million annualized rate and expected that figure would reach $500 million by the end of 2024, according to the report. Backed by Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, Anthropic is one of a series of companies building generative AI systems that can create human-like responses and content. It was co-founded by former executives at Microsoft-backed rival OpenAI and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei. Its Claude AI models have vied for prominence with OpenAI’s GPT series. Some people close to the company believe Anthropic could reach $1 billion in annualized revenue next year, or $83 million in revenue per month, the Information reported. The company is also in discussions to raise $750 million in a funding round led by Menlo Ventures, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters last week. In the past few months, Google and Amazon agreed to invest up to $2 billion and $4 billion, respectively, in the company.