Zoom Gains $1 Billion from Early Investment in AI Startup Anthropic

Zoom Communications has turned an early bet on artificial intelligence startup Anthropic into a windfall of about $1 billion, according to Bloomberg, giving the videoconferencing company an unexpected boost at a time when it is also trying to prove that its broader expansion beyond meetings is paying off.

Bloomberg reported that Zoom made the investment in Anthropic in early 2023, before the AI company’s rapid rise in value. That stake now appears to be worth far more after Anthropic moved toward closing a funding round that could top $30 billion and value the company at more than $900 billion, potentially making it the world’s most valuable AI startup. The surge in Anthropic’s valuation has lifted the worth of early backers such as Zoom, even though Zoom is not known primarily as an investor.

The gain matters because it underscores how closely the fortunes of major technology companies are becoming tied to the AI boom. Zoom has spent the past several years trying to widen its business beyond video calls, adding office and productivity products in hopes of turning one-time meeting users into broader customers. On Thursday, according to Bloomberg, that strategy helped push Zoom shares up as much as 18% after the company forecast stronger-than-expected sales growth and said customers are paying for its expanded product suite.

For Zoom, the Anthropic stake is a financial bonus, but the company’s bigger challenge remains operational: convincing investors that its growth can come from more than a pandemic-era communications platform. The company’s latest outlook suggested that its push into new products is beginning to generate revenue, though it still faces intense competition in workplace software and collaboration tools.

Anthropic’s rise also reflects the continuing scramble among large tech firms and investors to back leading AI developers. As reported by Bloomberg, the startup is closing in on one of the largest private funding rounds ever, a sign of continued demand for frontier AI companies despite concerns about high valuations and the cost of building advanced models. For Zoom, that momentum has already translated into a paper win that few would have expected when it first invested three years ago.