Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup, has named Krishna Rao, a former Airbnb executive, as its inaugural finance head, the business stated on Tuesday. This significant move comes as Anthropic looks to extend its AI offerings and improve its competitiveness in the booming AI market.
According to the company’s release, Rao will play an important role in establishing Anthropic’s financial strategy and operations. His vast career includes working as CFO of Fanatics Commerce, a digital sports platform, and as global head of corporate and commercial development at Airbnb from 2018 to 2021.
Anthropic has received significant financing, including billions from major cloud service providers such as Google and Amazon.com, as well as venture capital organisations. This round of funding is intended to help the company compete with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the inventor of the popular ChatGPT.
The Information first reported the news earlier in the day, citing persons familiar with the subject.
Anthropic is among the startups pioneering the development of generative AI systems capable of producing human-like reactions and content. Its Claude AI models compete directly with OpenAI’s well-regarded GPT series. Anthropic appointed Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger as chief product officer last week to enhance its executive team.
The Information also reported late last year that Anthropic expected to generate more than $850 million in annual revenue by the end of 2024.
This latest senior recruitment exemplifies Anthropic’s desire to strengthen its position in the competitive AI sector while continuing its rapid development and innovation.
(With inputs from Reuters)
