💸 Anthropic’s $5B Glow-Up

PLUS: India to US: Pick a lane on oil

Author

Ruchirr Sharma
August 22, 2025

 

Good morning and happy Friyay. Hope you have a lovely and restful weekend when it arrives 😎 

Ruchirr Sharma & Shatakshi Sharmaa  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MARKETS

🇮🇳 India

indicates per gram rate in Delhi | Stock data as of market close 21/08/2025

  • Indian equities continued their upward trajectory. Gains were led by banking, auto, and realty stocks. Investors remained positive on strong domestic demand and steady inflows, offsetting global trade worries and US tariff uncertainties.

🌍️ International

Stock data as of market close 21/08/2025

  • US markets declined extending their week’s losses as investors awaited signals from Fed officials at the Jackson Hole summit.

AI

AI startup Anthropic is about to bag a jaw-dropping $5 billion funding round, led by Iconiq Capital, with heavyweights like Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, Singapore’s GIC, and possibly Amazon chipping in. If the deal closes, it would value Anthropic at an eye-watering $170 billion.

To put that in perspective, this would place a three-year-old startup in the same league as legacy giants like Intel and Oracle. Just a few years ago, AI firms were raising hundreds of millions and still making headlines. Now, billion-dollar rounds are becoming the new norm, thanks to the race to build bigger, smarter, and more reliable AI models.

So what’s changed? The status quo used to be dominated by a handful of Big Tech players—Google, Microsoft, Amazon—pumping billions into AI. But Anthropic, with its ChatGPT rival Claude, has quickly broken into the front row, attracting sovereign funds and private capital that see AI as the next oil.

The implications are huge. More money means faster model development, more global adoption, and likely more consolidation of power in a few AI labs. But it also raises questions—if AI development is concentrated in companies worth more than many nations’ GDPs, who’s really steering the future of technology?

In short, Anthropic’s mega-round isn’t just a funding story. It’s a snapshot of how AI has gone from niche research to the most hotly contested investment play in the world.

OIL

India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar is scratching his head at Washington. At a joint presser in Moscow, he called out the US for slamming India’s energy trade with Russia while conveniently overlooking the fact that others buy way more.

Let’s break it down. China is Russia’s top oil customer. Europe is still the biggest buyer of Russian LNG. And trade with Russia has ballooned more in other regions than in India. Yet, the US is now slapping India with a 25% tariff (plus another 25% penalty) on Russian oil purchases starting August 27. That’s despite earlier nudges from Washington asking India to help stabilize global energy markets—including by sourcing Russian oil.

So what’s changed? Post-Ukraine, the US has leaned hard on sanctions as a foreign policy tool. But India’s logic is simple: energy security comes first. Oil from Russia is cheaper, and as a developing country with ballooning energy needs, New Delhi isn’t about to self-sabotage.

Beyond oil, Jaishankar and Russian FM Sergey Lavrov also talked shop on defense projects, fertilizers, IT talent, and Indian exports—from pharma to textiles—to rebalance trade.

The bigger picture: India is threading a tightrope between its Western partners and its old ally Russia. The US wants discipline in its sanctions regime. India wants affordable fuel and strategic autonomy. And as Jaishankar put it, the logic of the American position feels, well, perplexing.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

🚗 FASTag Annual Scheme pass - The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will compensate toll operators for revenue losses caused by the new FASTag Annual Pass scheme, rolled out on August 15. The compensation, valid for three months, covers up to two one-way transactions per vehicle per day and will be adjusted against future bids. Industry estimates suggest the impact could reach ₹3,000 crore annually, with 3–4% of passenger cars expected to use the pass. NHAI collected ₹72,931 crore in tolls in FY25. The policy will be reviewed after three months and applies to both existing and upcoming toll collection contracts.

📦️ Export control - India’s goods exports to China grew 20% year-on-year in April–July FY26, reaching $5.76 billion (₹50,112 crore), driven by petroleum, electronics, and agri-based products. Petroleum exports nearly doubled to $883 million, while electronic goods surged more than threefold to $521 million. Chemicals, gems, and jewellery also saw strong gains. Each month recorded higher shipments than last year, with May hitting the highest at $1.63 billion. The growth reflects rising Chinese demand and India’s improving export competitiveness, even amid global trade uncertainties. While India still faces a $99.2 billion trade deficit with China, the steady rise signals gradual rebalancing in bilateral trade.

HEADLINES

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

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That’s all for today folks - have a lovely day and we’ll see you next week.