Anthropic has secured an additional $4 billion in funding from Amazon, bringing the tech giant’s total investment in the AI startup to $8 billion. In return, Anthropic has agreed to make Amazon Web Services (AWS) its primary cloud computing platform for training its generative AI models. This deal also includes a collaboration with AWS’ chipmaking division, Annapurna Labs, to develop the next generation of Trainium chips, which will be used for training Anthropic’s advanced AI models.
Amazon’s cloud division, AWS, clarified that Anthropic will utilize Trainium — including the latest version, Trainium2 — for training its models. The company will also deploy these models using Inferentia, another in-house chip from AWS designed for accelerating AI model inference and serving. Matt Garman, AWS CEO, expressed confidence that this partnership will continue to push the boundaries of generative AI technologies.
The funding, which follows a $4 billion deal from last year, is critical for Anthropic’s growth as it faces the high costs associated with AI development. Anthropic had projected spending over $2.7 billion in 2024 alone to train and scale its products.
In return for this funding, Amazon has secured not only an AI partner but also a collaboration on custom chip development, providing Anthropic with the resources needed to continue its rapid growth. Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, mentioned that the relationship with AWS has been integral to the success of the Claude family of models, which have seen significant use across industries.
The partnership also reflects Amazon’s expanding role in the AI landscape, with some reports suggesting that Amazon plans to replace its own models powering Alexa with Anthropic’s technology. Despite regulatory scrutiny from entities like the FTC and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, Amazon’s investments and collaborations with AI startups like Anthropic continue to push the envelope in AI development.
Anthropic has also recently diversified its offerings, releasing new tools, mobile apps, and expanding into Europe, while continuing to refine its AI capabilities with new versions like Claude 3.5 Sonnet and upcoming launches like Claude 3.5 Opus.
