Anthropic announces massive AI chip deal with Google

The Anthropic website and mobile phone app are shown in this photo, in New York, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic said Thursday it was expanding its use of Google cloud computing and specialized chips in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars.

The arrangement will include Anthropic buying as many as one million Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), which are integrated circuits custom-designed by Google, according to the San Francisco-based startup.

The expansion promises to let Anthropic bring more than a gigawatt of new computing power online by the end of 2026, enabling it to meet “exponentially growing demand” for its Claude AI models, chief financial officer Krishna Rao said in a statement.

Anthropic said it has more than 300,000 business customers.

Anthropic was created in early 2021 by former OpenAI staff who felt their employer, led by CEO Sam Altman, was not doing enough to control and prevent the potentially harmful effects of its models.

Backed by Amazon, it quickly joined the major players in generative AI that embarked on a frantic race after the arrival of ChatGPT from OpenAI in November 2022, with new models being released at a furious pace with ever-expanding capabilities.

While trailing OpenAI in terms of users and name recognition, Anthropic had been considered for several months the top performer in generative AI for computer coding.

Google meanwhile has been investing heavily in AI as it vies with OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon and others to lead with the technology.

The processing units compete with Nvidia’s keenly sought-after GPUs.

“Anthropic’s choice to significantly expand its usage of TPUs reflects the strong price performance and efficiency its teams have seen with TPUs for several years,” said Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian.

“We are continuing to innovate and drive further efficiencies and increased capacity of our TPUs.”

New model

Anthropic last month launched its latest generative AI model, Claude Sonnet 4.5, which it says is the world’s best for computer programming.

Anthropic’s new release is also touted as the most sophisticated for applications that allow an AI assistant to use a computer as a human would.

Anthropic said early this month that it will open an office in India next year, as global generative AI players seek inroads into the world’s most populous country.

Demand for AI tools and solutions has surged in India -- projected to have more than 900 million internet users by year’s end -- driven by growing adoption by both businesses and individuals.

Anthropic is valued at US$183 billion, while OpenAI’s valuation has reportedly soared after a private share sale to US$500 billion, which would make it the world’s most valuable startup.