Menlo Ventures announced the new funding — its largest raise ever — Tuesday (June 23) while marking its 50th anniversary and reflecting on its investment in Anthropic. The company said it saw promise in the artificial intelligence (AI) startup even as ChatGPT became a “household name” and many observers claimed the AI race was already over.
“We were convinced there was room for another independent foundation model company, that Anthropic was the team to build it, and that an investment in Anthropic could anchor our broader AI strategy,” Menlo said in its announcement.
A report on the funding from Bloomberg News notes that Menlo has invested $1 billion in Anthropic over the years, though a source familiar with the matter said the company’s stake is now worth $14 billion as Anthropic’s valuation approaches the trillion-dollar mark.
Anthropic and Menlo teamed up in 2024 to launch Anthology, a $100 million fund for AI startups from the seed to expansion stage.
In other Anthropic news, the company is preparing to ask some users of its Claude model to verify their identities, something that could require government-issued forms of identification and, in some cases, selfie checks.
The policy would cover certain consumer use cases and is designed to prevent abuse, enforce usage rules and meet legal obligations, according to Anthropic’s help center.
A report on the change from TechCrunch says the new approach reflects a larger tightening of safeguards around AI access as model makers are being pressured to cut down on fraud, underage use and other policy violations.
Anthropic said in its support materials that the verification data would be used just to confirm identity and not to train its models.
As PYMNTS wrote, the report marks the latest development in a turbulent year for Anthropic. Earlier this month, the startup launched and then suspended access to its latest Mythos and Fable models when the U.S. government raised security concerns about how the foreign governments, companies or individuals could use the technology.
President Donald Trump has since said he no longer views Anthropic as a security threat.
“The move underscores the growing scrutiny AI providers face as they weigh commercial access against national security and policy risks, and it suggests Anthropic is taking a more cautious approach to customer relationships where sensitive government objections are involved,” PYMNTS wrote.
