Amazon is backing artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic to keep a competitive edge against cloud rivals Google and Microsoft in the AI space.
Amazon announced that it will support Anthropic with a $4 billion investment to step up its AI business. Anthropic will commit to Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers through early access to unique features.
Anthropic will provide access to future generations of its foundation models using AWS’ fully managed service, Amazon Bedrock.
That allows the company’s developers and engineers to create Anthropic models via the service, enabling the incorporation of generative AI functions in their work, improving current applications, and gaining net-new customer experiences across Amazon’s businesses.
Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy stated that AI development aims to improve customer experiences in the short and long term.
The firm’s investment could increase demand for chips running AI programs. Anthropic agreed to work on creating technology for Amazon’s Trainium and Inferentia chips.
Ex-OpenAI employees Dario and Daniela Amodei established Anthropic in 2021 and recently introduced their AI assistant, Claude. The report shows that the product is a major rival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
With the fast-growing AI industry, Amazon’s significant Anthropic investment underlines its strategic effort to keep up with competitors.
Amazon Engages in AI Battle with Microsoft and Google
On Monday, as Amazon announced its investment in Anthropic, Microsoft and Google are backing different AI foundations while nurturing their own.
Microsoft started its AI investment in 2019 in OpenAI and reinvested in 2021 with its own “multi-billion dollar,” multi-year commitment. Google announced a $300 million investment in Anthropic in February and provided backing to video generative AI startup Runway ML.
Analysts said Amazon’s $4 billion investment suggests increased rivalry between the three largest cloud providers by market share. With Amazon’s move, it is now ahead of Google as Anthropic’s primary tech investor and is expected to gain support in the market.
