Amazon Invests $4 Billion in AI Startup Anthropic
Amazon has announced that it will invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, a startup focused on building a generative AI chatbot. This major investment comes after Anthropic received $300 million from Google in late 2022, giving Google an estimated 10% stake in the company. With Amazon’s investment, Anthropic’s valuation has likely increased since its last funding round, where it was valued at nearly $5 billion.
The deal between Amazon and Anthropic is more than just a cash infusion. Beyond the $1.25 billion in upfront funding, Anthropic will also gain access to various tools and resources provided by Amazon. This includes access to computing chips, large language models, and Amazon’s cloud computing capabilities through Amazon Web Services (AWS). Anthropic’s existing AI chatbot, Claude, and its large language model will be incorporated into AWS’s suite of AI-specific tools.
According to Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky, the investment in Anthropic aligns with their strategy of providing customer choice in AI solutions. He emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all solution in the AI space and that Anthropic’s capabilities would be beneficial for AWS customers. Notable customers mentioned include Lonely Planet, LexisNexis, and Bridgewater Associates, the hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio.
The partnership between Amazon and Anthropic includes the use of Amazon’s new AI chips, Trainium and Inferentia. These chips will support Anthropic’s work on machine learning models, with Trainium primarily used for training and Inferentia for running the models. Additionally, Anthropic will leverage AWS’s cloud infrastructure for its operations.
Amazon and Anthropic have been working together since earlier this year, with Anthropic making its models available through Amazon’s Bedrock service. The two companies will continue their collaboration to help AWS customers develop their own generative AI applications. According to Selipsky, having both data platforms and AI capabilities in one place is beneficial for customers.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by Daniela and Dario Amodei, positions itself as a “safer” AI company, focusing on reliable and steerable AI. Their flagship product, Claude, is a generative AI assistant that can ask clarifying questions to improve understanding. Similar to OpenAI, Anthropic operates on a freemium model, offering a basic version of its chatbot for free and a more powerful version for a monthly fee.
While Amazon’s investment in Anthropic reflects its commitment to the AI space, it also highlights the increasing interest of major tech companies in up-and-coming AI startups. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, recently received a $13 billion investment from Microsoft. This trend showcases the potential and growing importance of generative AI in various industries.
Overall, Amazon’s investment in Anthropic demonstrates its dedication to AI innovation and its strategy of providing customers with a wide range of AI tools and solutions. This partnership has the potential to further advance generative AI technologies and drive new applications in the industry.