Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy explains why Anthropic is winning (and it's not the model)
News Source
β’Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:02:57 +0000
π° What Happened
Anthropic has grown to a $47 billion revenue run rate as of May. That is up from $9 billion in 2025. Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy says he has never seen growth like this in 25 years of investing. Menlo led Anthropic's $500 million Series D round. Murphy spoke on TechCrunch's Equity podcast about why Anthropic is winning. He says it is not just about having a better AI model. The company's focus on safety, partnerships, and enterprise customers is what sets it apart.
π The Backstory
Anthropic was started by former OpenAI employees who wanted to build AI more safely. For a long time, it was seen as the underdog to OpenAI. But the company focused on building AI that businesses could trust and use safely. It also built strong partnerships with companies like Amazon. Now it is growing faster than most tech companies ever have. The company went from making no money to a $47 billion run rate in just a few years. That kind of growth is rare even in the fast-moving tech world. Murphy says the key was betting on the team, not just the technology.
π― Why It Matters
This shows that being safe and trustworthy can be a winning business strategy. For regular people, it means the AI tools we use may be designed with safety as a top priority.
Anthropic has grown to a $47 billion revenue run rate as of May. That is up from $9 billion in 2025. Menlo Ventures' Matt Murphy says he has never seen growth like this in 25 years of investing. Menlo led Anthropic's $500 million Series D round. Murphy spoke on TechCrunch's Equity podcast about why Anthropic is winning. He says it is not just about having a better AI model. The company's focus on safety, partnerships, and enterprise customers is what sets it apart.
Anthropic was started by former OpenAI employees who wanted to build AI more safely. For a long time, it was seen as the underdog to OpenAI. But the company focused on building AI that businesses could trust and use safely. It also built strong partnerships with companies like Amazon. Now it is growing faster than most tech companies ever have. The company went from making no money to a $47 billion run rate in just a few years. That kind of growth is rare even in the fast-moving tech world. Murphy says the key was betting on the team, not just the technology.
This shows that being safe and trustworthy can be a winning business strategy. For regular people, it means the AI tools we use may be designed with safety as a top priority.