Google-backed artificial intelligence start-up reaches $4bn valuation 

Anthropic said its AI systems are safe because they would not tell users how to build a weapon or use racially biased language

Google has launched its own chatbot called Bard.

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence, or AI,  start-up backed by Google parent Alphabet said it had raised $450m (€418m), in the latest sign of a recovery in the start-up funding space.

It takes the company's valuation to $4bn, with a total $1bn raised in funding to date, according to PitchBook data.

Interest in artificial intelligence has piqued after Anthropic's rival OpenAI launched ChatGPT last year but the regulators are concerned about the potential use of the technology to spread misinformation. Google has launched its own chatbot called Bard.  

Anthropic, which was founded by former executives from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, said its AI systems are safe because they would not tell users how to build a weapon or use racially biased language. 

The latest round of funding was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Google, Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures, Zoom Ventures, among others, Anthropic said in a statement.

The private funding market is beginning to show some signs of recovery as optimism that the US is nearing an end of its rate-hike cycle, helping to boost sentiment among venture capitalists.

Zoom Video said last week it had invested an undisclosed sum in Anthropic and would integrate the start-up's technology into its video-conferencing platform.

Recently, Restaurant365 and SageSure achieved so-called unicorn status after closing multi-million funding rounds. 

• Reuters