Analysis
Sequoia Capital has closed roughly $7 billion for a new late-stage expansion fund aimed squarely at AI, its largest fundraise in that category, under new leadership installed after Roelof Botha stepped down as steward in late 2025, according to The Information. Longtime partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady now run the firm jointly. Roughly 70% of Sequoia's investment activity has gone into AI and machine learning companies over the past two years, and that concentration has only deepened since the leadership change.
The firm has notably broken its own historical convention against backing direct competitors in the same category, holding positions in both OpenAI and Anthropic -- Sequoia joined Anthropic's round in January 2026 and participated again when Anthropic raised a $65 billion Series H at a $965 billion valuation in June, alongside Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer and Greenoaks.
“New leadership doubling down on that dual-exposure strategy, rather than picking a side, is the more interesting signal than the fund size itself.”
For a firm built on picking single category winners, backing both frontier labs simultaneously is either an acknowledgment that AI's winner-take-most dynamics haven't resolved yet, or a hedge that prioritizes exposure to the category over conviction in any single outcome. New leadership doubling down on that dual-exposure strategy, rather than picking a side, is the more interesting signal than the fund size itself. Pulse has previously covered Sequoia Capital's dual bets on OpenAI and Anthropic, and this new fund is the firm formalizing that hedge with dedicated late-stage capital rather than one-off checks.
