OpenAI Anthropic Merger: OpenAI Proposes Merger With Rival Anthropic, How Does It Help FTX?

Amid all the drama that’s unfolding at OpenAI, reports suggest that the company is now seeking a merger with its rival Anthropic, in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. The talks are pretty much at the preliminary stage of the development.

OpenAI Anthropic Merger

As reported by The Information, OpenAI’s board of directors reached out to Dario Amodei, the co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, a competitor in the large-language model development space, for a potential merger following the dismissal of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The intention was to persuade Amodei to take on the role of CEO at OpenAI. However, it remains unclear if the merger proposal progressed into substantive discussions. Amodei swiftly declined the CEO offer, citing his commitment to Anthropic, a startup engaged in fierce competition with OpenAI for researchers and customers, particularly with its chatbot, Claude, directly competing with OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

The co-founders of Anthropic, who held executive positions at OpenAI until 2020, parted ways with the organization due to disagreements about strategies for ensuring the safe development and governance of artificial intelligence (AI).

The news comes after an interesting development following Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s hiring of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead the new AI research team. Reportedly, 500 employees out of the staff of 770 at OpenAI, have shown interest in joining Sam Altman and his team at Microsoft.

Anthropic has been on a solid growth trajectory and recently raised $2 billion in fresh funding from Microsoft rivals like Google and Amazon. The two-year-old startup, recognized for its chatbot Claude, which competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is aiming for a valuation ranging between $20 billion to $30 billion with the recent investments.

The FTX Anthropic Connection

Before its bankruptcy last year in November 2022, FTX had invested a massive $500 million in AI startup Anthropic. The value of its investments has soared significantly considering the strong surge in the valuations of Anthropic.

The FTX 2.0 Coalition, comprising FTX creditors, expressed that the potential surge in Anthropic’s valuation might place FTX’s stake in the range of $3 billion to $4.5 billion, potentially leading to full recovery for FTX customers.

The infusion of recent funds and the potential uptick in the company’s valuation may “facilitate” FTX in achieving a “100% recovery rate” in assets within the context of the crypto exchange’s bankruptcy proceedings. The timeline for the FTX bankruptcy restructuring team to divest its stake in Anthropic remains uncertain and may hinge on Anthropic’s public debut unless any unique events prompt an earlier sale