Anthropic has become the most expensive AI startup in the world. What you need to know

In a few years, artificial intelligence has become one of the main factors that is changing the global labor market and economy. Against this background, Claude's neural network developer, Anthropic, has overtaken OpenAI and become the most expensive AI startup in the world. Now the competition is for control of technologies that can change entire professions and the way companies operate. How AI affects the labor market and the economy as a whole is described in the Izvestia article.

How AI is changing supply and demand

• Artificial intelligence has changed the labor market more in two years than many digital technologies have in a decade. Companies have begun to reduce costs for routine tasks because AI automates document processing, customer support, information retrieval, translation, code writing, and content creation faster. A study by the Boston Consulting Group showed that in the next three years, AI will change the content of work for about 50% of workers in the United States.

• Companies have begun to evaluate staff effectiveness in a different way: previously, businesses increased their staff with increasing workload, but now AI systems are closing some of the tasks. This is especially noticeable in consulting, marketing, IT and media. There are fewer vacancies for novice specialists. At the same time, there is a growing demand for employees who know how to work with AI tools. Neural networks are most often used by programmers, analysts, sales specialists, and office staff.

• The economy is gradually shifting from a mass hiring model to a high-productivity model, because an employee with AI tools is able to do the work of a small team. As a result, companies are starting to compete for experienced professionals who know how to manage AI processes. At the same time, pressure is growing on young workers, especially those who perform standard operations according to a template. According to Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banks in the world, about 300 million full-time jobs may be automated due to the introduction of AI in the world.

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The AI Company Race

• The value of Anthropic has grown to $965 billion. The company has become the most expensive AI startup in Silicon Valley and overtook OpenAI, which is now valued at about $852 billion. The growth of Anthropic is due to the fact that the company was able to turn artificial intelligence into a working tool for business. Anthropic Claude helps you write code, check documents, analyze data, and automate some office work. The programming area is growing especially fast, so investors believe that the market for such services can become huge.

• The main idea of Anthropic is that AI should perform tasks independently. The company relies on so-called AI agents, systems that can work for a long time without human intervention: for example, to disassemble a large project, fix code, look for errors or prepare reports. This is how Anthropic differs from some of its competitors. Thanks to ChatGPT, OpenAI remains the leader among ordinary users, while Anthropic is growing stronger in the corporate segment and among developers.

• Investors are investing a lot of money in Anthropic because they expect a big change in the labor market. They believe that in a few years, companies will have virtual AI employees who will take over some of the work of people. If it turns out that AI just helps employees work a little faster, rather than replacing some of the staff, current market estimates may be too high.

• The main market players are currently working in several directions. OpenAI is actively developing universal models and enterprise services. Google integrates AI into search, office products, and Android. Microsoft is turning Copilot into a working platform for businesses. Meta (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) relies on open Llama models and ecosystem. Chinese companies are increasing pressure on the American market. DeepSeek and Alibaba are growing especially fast: they offer cheaper models and actively compete in Asia.

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• The competition has already gone beyond the usual technological race, as companies are now competing for computing power, engineers, and access to data. Large corporations are buying up tens of billions of dollars worth of data centers. To operate data centers and train neural networks, technology corporations have begun to actively look for new energy sources: Meta has signed agreements for more than 6 gigawatts of nuclear energy by 2035 to ensure its future capacities, and the American company Constellation Energy has agreed with Microsoft to supply electricity for 20 years and for this it will restart the first reactor of the Three Mile nuclear power plant.- An island in Pennsylvania.

Which professions are under threat

• Artificial intelligence will have the greatest impact on professions with routine and repetitive tasks: cashiers, call center staff, telemarketers, banking and office workers are at risk of layoffs. At the same time, estimates of the consequences for the labor market remain different. Thus, the World Economic Forum predicts that by 2030 92 million jobs may disappear in the world, but at the same time about 170 million new vacancies related to technology and the digital economy will appear.

In the coming years, AI will enhance the skills of qualified professionals rather than completely replace humans. Neural networks will help doctors, scientists, engineers, and managers, but they will not be able to displace professions where personal communication, emotional intelligence, and non-standard solutions are important. Construction workers, electricians, plumbers, and other manual labor specialists are also relatively protected. Against this background, the expert community expects an increase in demand for retraining and skills in working with AI.

Will the AI bubble collapse

• The expert community is increasingly talking about a possible "AI bubble": investments in artificial intelligence are growing too fast compared to the real incomes of companies. For example, the American financial conglomerate Morgan Stanley predicts investments in data centers at the level of $2.9 trillion in 2025-2028, but a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that 95% of companies have not yet received a noticeable return from the introduction of AI. Experts compare the situation to the dotcom bubble.

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• There are growing concerns in the market that companies are spending too much money on equipment and infrastructure without a payback guarantee: by 2030, the AI business will need about $2 trillion in annual revenue to cover the cost of computing power, but actual revenues may be $800 billion lower. However, even a possible crisis will not stop the development of technology. The market goes through a typical cycle, when after inflated expectations comes a period of disappointment and a more sober assessment of the technology's capabilities. Some AI startups will indeed disappear, but neural networks themselves will remain an important part of the economy. Systems that are capable of performing autonomous actions will develop especially rapidly.

How AI is controlled

• States are gradually moving from discussions to real regulation of artificial intelligence. The toughest example was the EU law on AI: it introduces rules for generative models, facial recognition systems, and high-risk algorithms. Companies are required to label AI content and disclose some information about how models work.

• The United States is still taking a softer approach because it is trying to maintain its companies' leadership in the global market. At the same time, the largest American AI companies actively influence the discussion of future laws through lobbyists and industry organizations. In particular, according to OpenSecrets, in 2023, 460 organizations in the United States were already promoting the interests of the AI industry, compared to six in 2016. At the same time, OpenAI's expenses for lobbyists increased from $260 thousand in 2023 to $1.76 million next year.

• Russia is developing its own system of artificial intelligence regulation and relies on domestic AI services and import substitution of technologies: large companies are already introducing generative AI in banks, public services, media and online commerce. The Ministry of Finance has already submitted a bill that introduces rules for artificial intelligence for the first time: labeling generated content, responsibilities for developers and users, as well as liability for harm from AI. The models are divided into "sovereign" (created in Russia with state support) and "trusted" (approved to state systems after verification by the FSB and FSTEC).

• In Russia, large services must store user data and monitor AI content, and data centers for AI will receive benefits for electricity and infrastructure. The law is planned to be introduced on September 1, 2027.

When writing the material, Izvestia took into account the opinions of:

• Professor of Finance Alexander Safonov University;

• Farida Mirzabalayeva, Associate Professor of the Basic Department of the CCI of the Russian Federation "Human Resource Management" at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.