Tech Brew Ride Home – "Anthropic Makes Its Move"

Date: February 13, 2026
Host: Brian McCullough

Episode Overview

This episode zeroes in on monumental shifts in the AI industry, charting Anthropic’s record-setting fundraising, revenue booms at leading AI startups, and escalating concerns over privacy and surveillance as major tech players expand facial recognition capabilities. The host also dives into changes in secondary markets for private shares, the effects of AI in creative industries like romance fiction, and the end of a controversial law enforcement partnership.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Anthropic’s Historic Financing and Growth

• Major Round Announced: Anthropic secures a $30 billion Series G round, now valued at $380 billion — more than double its valuation from September 2025.
  Lead backers include GIC, CO2, D.E. Shaw, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, Iconic, and MGX.
  (00:04)
• Comparison with OpenAI: This will be the second-largest private tech fundraising, only behind OpenAI.
• Use of Funds: Anthropic says the new capital will fuel infrastructure expansion, research, and more investment in enterprise-grade offerings.
• Monumental Revenue Growth: Anthropic reports an annualized revenue of $14 billion, representing over 10x growth year-on-year for the past three years.

  “Claude is increasingly becoming more critical to how businesses work.”
  — Krishna Rao, CFO, Anthropic (01:29)

• Enterprise Dominance: 80% of Anthropic’s business is enterprise, especially via the viral AI coding tool, Claude Code.
• Claude Code’s Surge: Revenue run-rate for Claude Code surpasses $2.5 billion, with business subscriptions quadrupling in just months; enterprise accounts for more than half of this revenue.
• Rival Movements: OpenAI is in talks for a possible $100 billion round to fund massive infrastructure outlays.

2. Cohere’s Run Toward Profitability and Sustainability

• Impressive ARR and Growth: Toronto-based Cohere hits $240 million in annual recurring revenue for 2025, exceeding targets with consistent 50% quarter-over-quarter growth.
• Capital Efficiency: Cohere distinguishes itself by outsourcing much of its infrastructure, avoiding the infrastructure arms race, and boasting gross margins near 70%.

  “By scaling compute resources proportionally to customer demand, we remain insulated from the speculative excesses surrounding the broader AI market.”
  — Cohere investor memo (04:50)

• IPO Hints: CEO Aiden Gomez signals intent to take Cohere public, providing a pure-play AI stock opportunity.
• Backers & Valuation: Major investments from Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures; now valued around $7 billion.

3. Meta’s Facial Recognition Moves and Privacy Debate

• Facial Recognition Returns: Meta plans to integrate facial recognition, dubbed “Nametag,” into its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses later this year.
• Timing and Strategy: Internal memos suggest the company is banking on US political tumult distracting critics.

  “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”
  — Meta internal Reality Labs document, via NYT (06:30)

• Feature Safeguards?: Potential restrictions discussed—identifying only contacts, public accounts, or using manual activation, rather than wild-card scanning.
• Super Sensing Glasses: Meta is developing new “Super Sensing” glasses—wearable cameras and sensors running non-stop, facial recognition as an ongoing feature, reminiscent of AI-powered note takers.
• Internal Risk Review Changes: Meta has relaxed privacy oversight processes for new products, reducing privacy teams' influence and shortening risk reviews.

  “Mark wants to push on it a little bit.”
  — Andy Millen, Risk Review and Reality Labs director, referring to Mark Zuckerberg (08:10)

4. Ring Cancels Partnership with Flock Safety

• Ring Backpedals Under Pressure: Amazon’s Ring calls off its partnership with Flock Safety after backlash tied to law enforcement access and ICE involvement.

  “The integration never launched, so no Ring customer videos were ever sent to Flock Safety.”
  — Ring statement (10:57)

• Public Response: Widespread criticism spurred users to discard devices, burn trust.
• Super Bowl Ad Reaction: Recent AI-powered “search party” ad intended to find lost pets instead stoked fears about neighborhood-wide surveillance.
• Facial Recognition Rollout: New “Familiar Faces” feature combined with centralized search tools amplifies mass surveillance concerns.

5. The New Silicon Valley "Secondary Share" Culture

• Tender Offers Surging: More startups and major companies (Anthropic, Stripe) are letting employees cash out pre-IPO shares, breaking a longstanding taboo in the Valley.

  “The dam is broken. The number of tender offers completed on Carta... climbed 60% in 2025.”
  — Charlie Franklin, CEO of Compa (12:06)

• Liquidity for Employees: Shift driven by extended private company lifecycles and the need to retain talent in the face of life realities.
• Anthropic’s Move: Planning a tender offer at a $350 billion valuation.

6. AI Disrupting the Romance Novel Industry

• AI-Empowered Writers: Authors like Ms. Rampoti use AI tools (e.g., Pseudo Write) to mass-produce romance novels, notably boosting output.
• Bias Reflected in Outputs: AI-generated descriptions often reinforce stereotypes due to biases in training data.

  “When you make a point that someone is plus size, it will exaggerate. Somebody is suddenly humongous.”
  — Ms. Rampoti, author (13:44)

• Author Secrecy: Many keep quiet about AI’s role; a BookBub poll finds a third of authors use it for at least part of their creative process.
• Concerns for Originality: The market is “flooded” with low-quality, formulaic output, rattling established writers and publishers.
• Looming Disintermediation: The podcast questions whether readers will need authors at all once AI can generate custom novels on demand.

  “Do you need to turn to someone else to write the story you want to read right now? That’s basically the question for all of art. Full stop.”
  — Brian McCullough, host (14:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao (01:29):

  “Claude is increasingly becoming more critical to how businesses work.”

• Cohere Investor Memo (04:50):

  “By scaling compute resources proportionally to customer demand, we remain insulated from the speculative excesses surrounding the broader AI market.”

• Meta Reality Labs Internal Document (06:30):

  “We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns.”

• Andy Millen, Meta (08:10):

  “Mark wants to push on it a little bit.”

• Ring Statement (10:57):

  “The integration never launched, so no Ring customer videos were ever sent to Flock Safety.”

• Charlie Franklin, Compa CEO (12:06):

  “The dam is broken. The number of tender offers completed on Carta... climbed 60% in 2025.”

• Ms. Rampoti, AI Romance Author (13:44):

  “When you make a point that someone is plus size, it will exaggerate. Somebody is suddenly humongous.”

• Brian McCullough, Host (14:32):

  “Do you need to turn to someone else to write the story you want to read right now? That’s basically the question for all of art. Full stop.”

Key Timestamps

• 00:04 – Anthropic’s historic $30B round, revenue details, enterprise focus
• 03:58 – Cohere’s growth, business model, plans for IPO
• 05:37 – Meta’s facial recognition plans for smart glasses, privacy strategy, policy changes
• 10:57 – Ring ends Flock Safety partnership, controversy over AI surveillance
• 11:40 – Explosion in tender offers for private tech stocks, shift in startup compensation culture
• 13:31 – AI’s impact on the romance novel industry, issues of quality, disclosure, and the future of creativity
• 14:32 – Host’s philosophical question on generative AI and art’s future

Tone and Style

Brian McCullough’s delivery is brisk, direct, and analytical, fitting for a daily news digest. Industry insight is paired with skepticism and a touch of wry humor, especially in the philosophical musings about the art-AI juncture and Silicon Valley’s evolving mores. The show blends quotation-heavy reportage with sharp, speculative commentary.