Microsoft, Nvidia to invest in Anthropic as Claude maker commits US$30 billion to Azure


Microsoft and Nvidia plan to invest in Anthropic under a new tie-up that includes a US$30 billion commitment by the Claude maker to use Microsoft’s cloud services, the latest high-profile deal binding together major players in the artificial intelligence industry.

Nvidia would commit up to US$10 billion to Anthropic and Microsoft up to US$5 billion, the companies said on Tuesday, without sharing more details. A person familiar with the matter said both companies had 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”.

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.

A Microsoft employee seen at the company’s data centre campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, currently under construction. Photo: Reuters
A Microsoft employee seen at the company’s data centre campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, currently under construction. Photo: Reuters
The start-up has since announced a US$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 US$1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources – enough to roughly power 25 million US homes.
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