Anthropic just bought your favorite JS runtime...
By Fireship
Summary
## Key takeaways - **Anthropic acquires Bun unexpectedly**: Anthropic, behind Claude, acquired Bun, the all-in-one JavaScript and TypeScript toolkit, in a massive acquisition no one saw coming despite recent claims that software engineering is done. [00:00], [00:03] - **Bun's origin: Zig-powered speed fix**: Jared Sumner ported ESBuild's JSX and TypeScript transpiler from Go to Zig to fix slow build times, creating Bun after discovering the JavaScript ecosystem was too slow. [00:36], [00:51] - **Bun's grind to 1.0 success**: After a $7M seed, Jared demanded his team grind despite backlash, announcing Bun 1.0 in 2023 with Windows support, Node compatibility, and built-in database clients. [01:19], [01:37] - **Bun's massive popularity metrics**: Bun now gets over 7 million monthly downloads, has 83,000 GitHub stars, and became one of the most loved tools in the JavaScript ecosystem. [01:51], [01:53] - **Perfect for AI: fast, single executable**: Bun apps compile into single executables ideal for CLIs like Claude Code, offering the fast, predictable environment needed for AI agents writing and testing code. [02:01], [02:14] - **Open source future uncertain**: Bun stays open source and MIT licensed with the same team, but Anthropic's poor open source track record like non-open Claude Code raises sunset risks. [02:46], [03:01]
Topics Covered
- Bun Born from Build Time Frustration
- Grind Culture Fuels Bun 1.0 Success
- Bun Powers AI Agent Infrastructure
- Acquisition Risks Bun's Open Source
Full Transcript
A few days ago, there was a massive acquisition that no one saw coming.
Anthropic, the AI research company behind Claude, acquired Bun, the all-in-one JavaScript and TypeScript toolkit that I first talked about on this channel back in 2022. The reason no one saw this coming is because just a
few weeks ago, we were told that software engineering is done, but by a member of Claude Code's technical staff.
Clearly, Daario didn't get the message or they could have saved themselves a lot of money. In today's video, we'll break down how the Bun team got here, what it means for the future of Bun, and how everyone but you is getting filthy
rich in the AI bubble. It is December 5th, 2025, and you're watching the code report. When the average developer runs
report. When the average developer runs into slow build times, they check Twitter while they wait. But when Jared Sumner runs into slow build times, he ports ES builds JSX and TypeScript transpiler from Go to Zig, creating a
new compiler to speed up the process. At
least, this was the origin story of Bun.
But back in 2021, when his initial tweet about his new compiler caught some traction, he discovered everyone else was also sick of how slow the JavaScript ecosystem had become. The only problem is that we were just too dumb to fix it
ourselves. So Jared did what any former
ourselves. So Jared did what any former Stripe Teal fellow high school dropout would do. He moved to Oakland and spent
would do. He moved to Oakland and spent a year making his GitHub graph look like this. His bank account looked like this
this. His bank account looked like this and Bun look like this. The fastest
all-in-one bundler, transpiler, runtime, testr runner, and package manager in the game. This was enough to get him a $7
game. This was enough to get him a $7 million seed round from Kleiner Perkins, from which he immediately pissed off the internet by saying, "If you wanted to come work for Bun, you better be ready to grind." And despite the backlash,
to grind." And despite the backlash, that's exactly what him and his team did.
>> Honestly, I spend pretty much all my time working on Bun. Uh, yeah, I mostly just work on Bun.
>> They announced Bun 1.0 0 a year later in 2023, Windows support a year after that and have since improved their compatibility with node, added built-in Postgress, MySQL, Reddus clients, and have become one of the most loved tools
in the JavaScript ecosystem. As of
today, Bun gets more than 7 million monthly downloads, has over 83,000 GitHub stars, and most importantly, it has the right primitives in place for AI companies wanting to build with it. But
because the bun team has been so focused on keeping bun as small as possible and since bun apps are able to be compiled into a single executable that contain everything the app needs to run. It's
the perfect tool for building CLIs which is exactly what Anthropic did with Claude code. And with the way things are
Claude code. And with the way things are heading if most new code in the future is being written, tested, and developed by an AI agent. The environment it runs in has to be fast and predictable, which is exactly what Bun offers and why
Anthropic is investing in its infrastructure powering Claude Code and any other future AI products it comes up with. So, if you're a Bun fanboy or a
with. So, if you're a Bun fanboy or a Bun Boy, what does this all mean for you? Well, in an ideal world, the Bun
you? Well, in an ideal world, the Bun team will continue to obsess over building the best JavaScript tooling they can while now not having to worry about their burn rate or pretending like they're eventually going to build some crappy hosting service for their
investors. They've promised that bun
investors. They've promised that bun will remain open source and MIT licensed. It will still be built in
licensed. It will still be built in public. That the same team will continue
public. That the same team will continue to work on it and they won't get soft after they become incredibly rich when Anthropic eventually goes public. But
unfortunately, Anthropic doesn't have the best track record when it comes to open source. Claude Code itself isn't
open source. Claude Code itself isn't even open source, and it wouldn't be the first time a beloved dev tool was sunset after an acquisition. But regardless, in a world where it seems like every startup is just hype marketing or rage
baiting, it feels good to see one of the good ones win. But to get a win like this in the tech space, you need a solid foundation in math and science. And you
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