Anthropic makes a bold move into OpenAI’s territory with its first acquisition, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase the programming tool Bun and safeguard its AI programming business.

Anthropic makes a bold move into OpenAI’s territory with its first acquisition, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase the programming tool Bun and safeguard its AI programming business.

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Artificial intelligence company Anthropic plans to complete the first acquisition in its history for several hundred million dollars, targeting developer tools startup Bun. The deal aims to consolidate its core business, Claude Code, which already generates $1 billion in annual revenue, and prepare for a planned IPO in 2026.

On December 3, according to media reports, Anthropic is in advanced acquisition talks with Bun, with the transaction expected to be worth several hundred million dollars. Bun is a software developer focused on improving code execution and management efficiency. Its technology can directly enhance the performance and stability of Anthropic’s core product, Claude Code, helping to attract more developers to migrate from the OpenAI ecosystem or prioritize the Claude platform.

The acquisition highlights Anthropic’s strategic focus in the programming-related business sector. According to people familiar with the matter, Claude Code's annualized revenue surpassed $1 billion last month, accounting for most of the company’s revenue. This acquisition will help enterprise clients deploy Claude Code services more efficiently, enabling direct competition with OpenAI in the enterprise AI market, especially in code assistance and automation.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for an IPO, starting a listing race with rival OpenAI. The company is currently in negotiations over a new round of funding with a valuation exceeding $300 billion.

First Formal Acquisition Strengthens Programming Toolchain

According to informed sources, Anthropic will hire Bun’s seven employees and acquire its technology, and these employees will continue to be responsible for its operations. Bun has over seven million monthly downloads, has not yet generated revenue, and will remain open-source after the acquisition.

This acquisition marks a strategic shift for Anthropic. Previously, the company mainly conducted “acqui-hires,” absorbing just the team but not their technology. In contrast, rival OpenAI has acquired at least three startups via equity transactions worth over $6.4 billion in the past 18 months. The specific terms of this transaction have not yet been disclosed.

Bun was founded in 2021 by former Stripe engineer Jarred Sumner. It has raised $7 million in a seed round led by Kleiner Perkins and $19 million in a Series A led by Khosla Ventures. The tool integrates code installation, building, running, and testing into a unified solution, mainly supporting JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystems.

Programming Business Becomes Revenue Pillar, Targeting Vertical Industries

In recent months, Anthropic has informed investment banks that it plans to strengthen its programming-related capabilities through a series of acquisitions. At present, about 80% of the company’s revenue comes from selling access to AI models to application developers. Its clients include legal AI startup Harvey and code editor manufacturer Anysphere.

To further expand the market, Anthropic is shifting its focus to vertical sectors, especially deepening AI applications in scenarios such as financial services and healthcare. With the push of CFO Krishna Rao, the company is actively expanding its corporate development team to seek small strategic acquisitions that can enhance its developer software ecosystem.

In February this year, Anthropic introduced Claude Code to select clients. The product can be accessed through Claude’s chatbot subscription and enterprise plans, and has become one of the company’s key tools for competing with OpenAI and Microsoft in the enterprise AI market.

IPO Race Heats Up, Valuations May Set Records

Anthropic is engaged in an IPO race with OpenAI that could set a record for the highest IPO valuation for an American tech startup. According to sources, Anthropic could go public as early as 2026, while OpenAI has also begun preliminary preparations for a listing.

To advance the listing process, Anthropic appointed former Airbnb CFO Krishna Rao as its CFO last year. He was deeply involved in promoting Airbnb’s initial public offering. In addition, since 2022, Anthropic has retained Wilson Sonsini, the law firm that has served IPOs for technology companies such as Google, LinkedIn, and Lyft, to provide professional legal services.

In terms of valuation, Anthropic was valued at $170 billion in a financing round in September this year and is currently negotiating a new round expected to increase the valuation to $300 billion-$350 billion. As its main competitor, OpenAI was valued at about $500 billion in October last year. Although both companies show rapid growth momentum, they also face the financial sustainability challenges brought by the high training costs of AI large models.

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