Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will be injecting an additional 2.75 billion USD into Anthropic which is an artificial intelligence startup based in San Francisco. With this infusion of funds, Amazon’s total investment in Anthropic will reach $4 billion, solidifying its commitment to the company.
Amazon views this investment as crucial for the advancement of generative AI technology which is poised to be one of the most transformative technologies of our time. Swami Sivasubramanian is Vice President of Data and AI at Amazon Web Services (AWS), expressed confidence in the strategic collaboration with Anthropic, anticipating enhanced customer experiences in the future.
Amazon’s initial investment in Anthropic amounted to $1.25 billion back in September with plans to further invest up to $4 billion. The focus of this collaboration lies in the development of foundation models which serve as the backbone for generative AI systems garnering global attention.
As part of the agreement, Anthropic will leverage AWS as its primary cloud provider and they will utilize Amazon’s custom chips for the construction, training, and deployment of AI models. AWS customers and predominantly businesses will gain access to these models through Amazon’s Bedrock service. Already, companies like Delta Air Lines and Siemens are leveraging Bedrock to harness Anthropic’s AI models for their operations.
This investment reflects a broader trend of major tech companies funneling resources into artificial intelligence startups; driven by increasing interest from both the public and businesses in AI technology. These investments have also drawn scrutiny from US antitrust regulators earlier this year and it highlights the importance of transparency and fair competition in the AI sector.
