Financial Bridge Across Continents: What Connects AI Giants Anthropic and Sarvam AI
At first glance, the American laboratory Anthropic, creator of the Claude neural network, and the Indian startup Sarvam AI seem like competitors separated by thousands of kilometers and different market niches. However, upon closer inspection, they are united by something far more fundamental than just the global artificial intelligence race. It is about deep financial parallels stretching from Silicon Valley to Bangalore.
The key link is the venture capital fund Lightspeed Venture Partners. In March 2025, Lightspeed led a Series E round for Anthropic worth $3.5 billion, valuing the company at $61.5 billion. Simultaneously, according to official documents from Indian regulators, Lightspeed, through its subsidiaries, acquired equity stakes, preferred shares, and convertible bonds of Axonwise Private Limited, the legal entity operating Sarvam AI.
One Investor Across Two Continents
Sarvam AI, founded in 2023 by renowned engineers Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, recently raised $234 million in funding at a market valuation of $1.5 billion. Thus, the same major player is simultaneously developing the American laboratory and its strong Indian competitor. This is not an isolated case.
The fund General Catalyst also entered the Indian market through the acquisition of Venture Highway in 2024. Venture Highway Fund III holds Sarvam's Series A convertible bonds, while General Catalyst itself invests in Anthropic and the French startup Mistral AI. This means this investor is present in three key AI laboratories worldwide.
A similar situation exists with Khosla Ventures. This fund, which became the first venture investor in OpenAI, holds shares and Series A preferred shares of Sarvam. Thus, the same players decide which laboratories develop, from San Francisco to Bangalore.
My analysis: Such concentration of capital in the hands of a small group of funds creates a unique dynamic. On one hand, it accelerates technological development through cross-financing. On the other, it forms a hidden cartel where decisions about strategy and competition are made behind closed doors. For the cryptocurrency and Web3 market, where decentralization is a key principle, this is an alarming signal: centralization of capital in AI could lead to similar risks in adjacent industries.