OpenAI vs. Anthropic is the Key 2023 Startup Battle to Watch in Generative A.I.

🚀 It's not Microsoft vs. Google any longer.

Hey Everyone,

OpenAI has gone on a PR splurge about A.I. regulation, but it’s not ASI (artificial super intelligence) that is its biggest competitor, it’s Anthropic. Click on title to read on a browser, or read this on the app for the best experience.

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Anthropic who got more funding (a lot!) has a more fleshed out A.I. principles for Generative A.I. than does OpenAI, that has focused mostly on commercialization, like APIs and ChatGPT premium subscriptions for Microsoft.

Anthropic’s Claude, is nearly as good as ChatGPT, and now with the additional funding, it will only get better.

Sam Altman has gone from being overwhelmingly optimistic about AGI, to saying that ASI is basically inevitable.

But are these founding startups really building the manhattan project of AGI? Or is that mostly a PR stunt to try to boost their hype and sales? Despite OpenAI's valuation of about $29 billion, Mr Altman, 38, does not have an equity stake in the artificial intelligence-powered startup behind the popular ChatGPT tool. He wants to cheat death, create a new energy source, install a crypto with facial recognition called worldcoin, and since Italy banned ChatGPT, he may be having some sleepless nights.

But no, this altruist has no stake in OpenAI. Suddenly after GPT-4, he’s become pro regulation?

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Anthropic Raises $450 Million

Funds that got in early with Anthropic, are off to a good start. While OpenAI is mostly just a lackey of Microsoft, I see Anthropic is making major investments in A.I. ethics as the foundation of Claude.

Anthropic’s Constitutions is the best model I’ve seen yet for A.I. alignment, and how to handle RLHF bottlenecks responsibly. Since this is one of the key points in how we regulate A.I. and one day AGI, this startup is a shining beacon on the map of Generative A.I. Startups.

I have to mention too that the $450 million Series C round led by Spark Capital and others is also a sizeable amount. This means they have already raised $1.8 Billion over five rounds. I would guess their internal valuation for the company would be in the ballpark of $5 to $8 Billion at this point. The Information reported in early March (and as confirmed by us when we were leaked the pitch deck for the Series C) that the company was seeking to raise capital at an over-$4.1 billion valuation. It wouldn’t be surprising if that figure ended up being within the ballpark.

Sound Ventures have notably been very smart early investors in Anthropic. Zoom taking a stake also makes sense given their new deep partnership. We know that Alphabet has a lot going for it in Anthropic as the one company that truly seems to care the most about A.I. alignment at all costs.

I don’t think the genius of Anthropic’s A.I. alignment efforts is fully understood by the public or even A.I. enthusiasts at heart.

Anthropic’s Constitutional A.I. Paper is one of the most important papers in recent memory on A.I. alignment. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence could surpass the "expert skill level" in most fields within a decade — and trying to stop the emergence of "superintelligence" is impossible, wrote OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a Monday blog post.

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