Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced on Monday that it will invest up to $4 billion in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. The investment is seen as a strategic move by the tech giant to maintain its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI sector, particularly against rivals Microsoft (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:GOOGL).
As part of the deal, Amazon's cloud customers will gain early access to Anthropic's technology via Amazon Bedrock, the company's AI platform for businesses. Furthermore, Anthropic committed to primarily relying on Amazon's cloud services, including training its future AI models on large quantities of proprietary chips purchased from Amazon.
The immediate investment by Amazon will be $1.25 billion, with the option for either party to trigger an additional $2.75 billion in funding from Amazon. Despite the substantial investment, Amazon confirmed it would not gain a board seat and that its stake amounted to a minority position.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees Dario and Daniela Amodei, recently launched its AI assistant named Claude. This product is viewed as a direct competitor to ChatGPT, a creation of OpenAI.
This move mirrors similar strategies adopted by other tech giants. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested billions of dollars into its partnership with OpenAI, giving its customers special access to the startup's prose-writing, image-generating technology. Google also invested in Anthropic's $450-million fundraise in May and maintains an ongoing relationship with the startup.
Amazon's investment could potentially boost demand for chips powering AI. Anthropic agreed to work on developing technology for Amazon's in-house Trainium and Inferentia chips.
The deal represents perhaps Amazon's most significant response yet to challenges from smaller cloud rivals that have marketed or developed powerful AI this year. It also indicates ongoing maneuvering by cloud companies to secure ties with AI startups reshaping their industry.
Adam Selipsky, Amazon Web Services's CEO, said the partnership with Anthropic will allow Amazon's employees and cloud customers to infuse their businesses with cutting-edge technology.
The rapid growth of the AI industry is unmistakable, and Amazon's hefty investment in Anthropic underscores its resolve not to be left behind by competitors like Microsoft. This move represents another step in Amazon's continuous expansion into the increasingly competitive AI sector.
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