OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral AI: A Comparison of the Latest AI Funding Rounds

Published in

Major Digest

3 min readOct 2, 2024

The AI sector continues to expand at an unprecedented pace, with multiple companies raising significant funds to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence development. In 2024, three key players — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral AI — have been at the forefront, each securing massive investments that reflect their individual strategic goals and ambitions. Here’s a detailed look at these funding rounds and how they stack up against each other.

OpenAI: Doubling Down on AI Supremacy

OpenAI has been leading the AI space since the launch of its GPT series, and in October 2024, the company solidified its dominance by raising $6.6 billion in a new funding round. This round almost doubled its valuation to a staggering $157 billion. Major investors in this round included Thrive Capital, Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank. The funds are aimed at furthering OpenAI’s mission to develop AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), expand computing resources, and refine AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, which has amassed over 250 million weekly users(Crunchbase News)(Yahoo Finance).

Despite these impressive numbers, OpenAI is still navigating the balance between growing revenue and dealing with mounting operational costs. The company’s projected revenue for 2024 is $3.6 billion, but it’s also expected to face over $5 billion in losses. With the new funding, OpenAI aims to scale its infrastructure and advance AI capabilities globally, with aspirations of reaching $11.6 billion in revenue by 2025.

Anthropic: Prioritizing Safety and Ethics

While OpenAI has focused on scaling AGI, Anthropic has positioned itself as the leader in AI safety and ethics. In 2023, Anthropic raised $450 million in a Series C round, and more recently, the company struck a landmark deal with Amazon, which invested up to $4 billion in the firm. This partnership not only provided Anthropic with substantial funding but also a significant strategic advantage by integrating its Claude models into Amazon Web Services (AWS) via Bedrock, Amazon’s AI platform(US About Amazon)(SiliconANGLE).

Anthropic’s valuation is estimated to reach $40 billion as it continues to differentiate itself by developing AI models that are more transparent and safe. The company has a strong ethical focus, ensuring that AI systems act in ways that are beneficial and predictable — an approach that appeals to large enterprises concerned with regulatory compliance and long-term risk management.

Mistral AI: Europe’s Fastest-Growing AI Startup

Mistral AI, based in Paris, has emerged as one of the most exciting AI startups in Europe. Founded by former researchers from Google and Meta, Mistral focuses on developing both proprietary and open-source AI models. In 2024, the company raised $644 million in a Series B funding round, boosting its valuation to $6.2 billion(PYMNTS.com)(Enterprise Technology News and Analysis).

One of the standout features of Mistral’s approach is its use of sparse Mixture of Experts architecture, which allows their models to use only a fraction of the available parameters at any given time. This technique offers impressive efficiency while maintaining performance levels comparable to larger models from competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Mistral’s rapid ascent demonstrates that Europe is becoming a competitive player in the global AI market, counterbalancing the dominance of U.S.-based companies like OpenAI. The funds raised will enable Mistral to continue expanding its research and development in both open-source and enterprise-grade AI solutions.

Comparing the Funding Rounds

OpenAI: Raised $6.6 billion with a valuation of $157 billion, focusing on AGI and scaling existing tools like ChatGPT.
Anthropic: Secured $4 billion from Amazon (following a $450 million Series C), with a focus on safety, transparency, and AI ethics, positioning itself for a valuation near $40 billion.
Mistral AI: Raised $644 million in Series B, valuing the company at $6.2 billion, with a focus on efficient, cutting-edge AI models using sparse computation techniques.

Conclusion

Each of these companies is tackling AI development from different angles. OpenAI remains the juggernaut with its colossal funding and ambitions for AGI, Anthropic is carving a niche with its safety-first approach and key partnerships, while Mistral AI is rapidly gaining ground as Europe’s premier AI startup, pushing the boundaries of efficient AI models.

These investments highlight the rapid expansion of AI and the significant interest from investors looking to back technologies that will shape the future of industries worldwide. Whether it’s the ethical concerns that Anthropic addresses or the AGI-driven advancements at OpenAI, the race to dominate the AI landscape is more competitive than ever.