Cash out channel open! Anthropics plans to launch an employee stock sale with an estimated valuation of $35 billion.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic is advancing a transaction that would allow some employees to sell their holdings at a valuation of at least $350 billion. The plan is being carried out in parallel with a financing round that could bring in over $20 billion in funds for the company. This equity sale will allow Anthropic employees to cash out part of their holdings in one of the world's highest-valued AI startups. The source stated that the $350 billion valuation aligns with the valuation discussed in the current financing round and is pre-money valuation, not including the funds to be raised in this round. The specific details of the equity sale have not been finalized yet, according to the source. The funds required for secondary transactions are being raised by investors, and the final size of the transaction will depend on how many shares current and former employees are willing to sell. The valuation used for the equity sale may also be adjusted based on the progress of Anthropic's current financing round and changes in the company's overall valuation. In the competitive AI talent recruitment environment, secondary share sales are becoming an increasingly common way for startups to provide liquidity to employees, especially as more and more large startups choose to remain private for longer periods. Companies like Stripe and SpaceX have conducted similar transactions in the past. OpenAI, a major competitor of Anthropic, has also frequently engaged in share sales, including a $6.6 billion secondary market transaction completed in October last year at a company valuation of $500 billion. OpenAI and SpaceX have recently taken steps towards an initial public offering (IPO).