WSJ Tech News Briefing
TNB Tech Minute: Anthropic Raising $10 Billion In New Funding Round
07 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
AI is transforming industries, but the data centers powering it require more energy and water than ever. At the break, join Christoph Beck, Chairman and CEO of Ecolab, for insights on using water effectively while safeguarding this critical resource for future generations.
Music
Here's your afternoon TNB Tech Minute for Wednesday, January 7th. I'm Julie Chang for The Wall Street Journal. We exclusively report that Anthropic is raising $10 billion in a new funding round that would nearly double its valuation from four months ago. According to people familiar with the matter, the new financing will be led by Singapore's Sovereign Wealth Fund and KOTU Management.
The AI startup's valuation is at $350 billion before the new investment. The round is expected to close in the coming weeks, and the total amount of the deal could change. Character AI and Google have agreed to settle several lawsuits with families of teenagers who killed or harmed themselves after interacting with the startup's chatbot.
The lawsuits filed in states including Florida, Colorado, Texas, and New York alleged negligence and harm. According to court documents made public yesterday and today, the companies and families are working on settlement terms. The tech companies and lawyers for the families either didn't immediately respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.
Character AI is a role-playing app that lets users create and chat with AI characters. Google licensed characters technology in 2024. Finally, Eli Lilly is in advanced talks to acquire Biotech Ventex Biosciences for around $1 billion. People familiar with the matter say a deal for Ventex could come as soon as today. Ventex specializes in developing pills that can treat inflammatory diseases.
If Ventex's experimental pills pan out, they would add to Lilly's portfolio of treatments for autoimmune conditions as well as for obesity and related disorders. And that's it for your TNB Tech Minutes. We'll have another quick tech update in the morning.
How are data center operators working to improve sustainability and water savings at every stage of the data center lifecycle? Here's Ecolab's Christoph Beck with some thoughts.
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Chapter 2: What recent funding round is Anthropic involved in?
The Mach 7 or the Mach 4, the ones that are really so focused on high-tech, are the most forward-looking. They have the means, they have the mindset, they have the passion for innovation, and they're really open to try new things as well because everything is new with AI and with that technology as well.
I think even if we're not where we wanted to be with that industry right now, we will be ahead in the next few years because innovation that's coming up right now is working much better than we thought. And it's really thinking in circular ways, being in a data center or in a microchip manufacturing plant.
Learn more about Ecolab at Ecolab.com.
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