AI start-up Anthropic is considering accepting funding offers that would value it at more than $900 billion (£668bn), potentially giving it a higher market value than competitor OpenAI, Bloomberg reported.

The start-up is examining investment offers that would represent a more than doubling of its current valuation, the report said, citing unnamed people.

The deliberations are reportedly at a very early stage, and the company has yet to accept any offers.

In February Anthropic finalised a deal to raise $30bn in funding from investors including Microsoft and Nvidia, at a valuation of $380bn post-money.

The company had initially sought to raise $10bn, but doubled the figure to $20bn due to investor demand, according to previous reports.

It raised the figure by a further $10bn amid investors’ expectations of future profits, in a round that Anthropic said was led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and Coatue Management.

DE Shaw & Co, Dragoneer Investment Group, Founders Fund, Iconiq and MGX co-led the round, which saw participation from Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Microsoft, Nvidia and others.

The February round roughly doubled Anthropic’s valuation, which stood at $183bn following a September fundraise of $13bn.

Competitor OpenAI in late March concluded a $122bn funding round at a post-money valuation of $852bn, as the fast-growing but unprofitable start-up faces increasingly complex challenges in maintaining its lead in the AI boom.

Some $35bn of Amazon’s commitment to OpenAI is contingent on OpenAI holding an initial public offering or achieving the ill-defined milestone of artificial general intelligence.

OpenAI has in recent weeks shifted its strategy to focus on increasing its enterprise business, including programming tools, an area in which Anthropic has taken a lead.