Anthropic logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
(Reuters) -Microsoft and Nvidia plan to invest in Anthropic under a new tie-up that includes a $30 billion commitment by the Claude maker to use Microsoft's cloud services, the latest high-profile deal binding together major players in the AI industry.
Nvidia will commit up to $10 billion to Anthropic and Microsoft up to $5 billion, the companies said on Tuesday, without sharing more details. A person familiar with the matter said both companies have committed to investing in Anthropic's next funding round.
The announcement underscores the AI industry's insatiable appetite for computing power as companies race to build systems that can rival or surpass human intelligence. It also ties major OpenAI-backer Microsoft as well as key AI chip supplier Nvidia closer to one of the ChatGPT maker's biggest rivals.
"We're increasingly going to be customers of each other. We will use Anthropic models, they will use our infrastructure and we'll go to market together," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a video. He added that OpenAI "remains a critical partner."
REDUCING RELIANCE ON OPENAI
The move comes weeks after OpenAI unveiled a sweeping restructuring that moved it further away from its non-profit roots, giving it greater operational and financial freedom.
The startup has since announced a $38 billion deal to buy cloud services from Amazon.com as it reduces reliance on Microsoft. Its CEO Sam Altman has said OpenAI is committed to spending $1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources — enough to roughly power 25 million U.S. homes.
Still, three years after ChatGPT's debut, investors are increasingly uneasy that the AI boom has outrun fundamentals. Some business leaders have noted that circular deals — where one partner props up another's revenue — add to the bubble risk.
"The main feature of the partnership is to reduce the AI economy's reliance on OpenAI," D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said of Tuesday's announcement.
"Microsoft has decided not to rely on one frontier model company. Nvidia was also somewhat dependent on OpenAI's success and is now helping generating broader demand."
ANTHROPIC BETS ON ENTERPRISE TO FUEL RISE
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI staff, Anthropic was recently valued at $183 billion and has become a major rival to the ChatGPT maker, driven by the strong adoption of its services by enterprise customers.
Reuters reported last month that Anthropic was projecting to more than double and potentially nearly triple its annualized revenue run rate to around $26 billion next year. It has more than 300,000 business and enterprise customers.
As part of Tuesday's move, Anthropic will work with Nvidia on chip and models to improve performance and commit up to 1 gigawatt of compute using Nvidia's Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin hardware. Industry executives estimate that 1 gigawatt of AI computing can cost between $20 billion and $25 billion.
Microsoft will also give Azure AI Foundry customers access to the latest Claude models, making Claude the only frontier model offered across all three major cloud providers.
Amazon will remain Anthropic's primary cloud provider and training partner.
"These investments reflect how the AI industry is consolidating around a few key players," eMarketer analyst Jacob Bourne said.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Arnav Mishra, Jaspreet Singh and Kritika Lamba; Editing by Maju Samuel and Anil D'Silva)
