Alphabet's Google has agreed to invest up to $2 billion in the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, a spokesperson for the startup said on Friday.
According to the spokesman, the company has spent $500 million on the OpenAI competitor and has agreed to contribute an additional $1.5 billion over time.
Google is already an Anthropic investor, and the new investment would signal a step up in the company's efforts to compete with Microsoft, a key backer of ChatGPT inventor OpenAI, as Big Tech companies race to incorporate AI into their apps.
Amazon.com also announced last month that it would invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic to fight with emerging cloud rivals in artificial intelligence.
In Amazon's quarterly report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week, the online retailer detailed it had invested in a $1.25 billion note from Anthropic that can convert to equity, while its ability to invest up to $2.75 billion in a second note expires in the first quarter of 2024.
Google declined to comment, and Amazon did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the news of Google's latest agreement with Anthropic.
The rising number of investments shows ongoing maneuvering by cloud companies to secure ties with the AI startups that are reshaping their industry.
Anthropic, which was co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, has shown efforts to secure the resources and deep-pocketed backers needed to compete with OpenAI and be leaders in the technology sector.
OpenAI to make its own AI chips
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring making its own artificial intelligence chips and has gone as far as evaluating a potential acquisition target, sources say.ৎে
The company has not yet decided to move ahead, according to recent internal discussions described to Reuters. However, since at least last year it discussed various options to solve the shortage of expensive AI chips that OpenAI relies on, according to people familiar with the matter.
These options have included building its own AI chip, working more closely with other chipmakers including Nvidia and also diversifying its suppliers beyond Nvidia.
OpenAI declined to comment.
CEO Sam Altman has made the acquisition of more AI chips a top priority for the company. He has publicly complained about the scarcity of graphics processing units, a market dominated by Nvidia, which controls more than 80% of the global market for the chips best suited to run AI applications.
The effort to get more chips is tied to two major concerns Altman has identified: a shortage of the advanced processors that power OpenAI's software and the “eye-watering” costs associated with running the hardware necessary to power its efforts and products.
Since 2020, OpenAI has developed its generative artificial intelligence technologies on a massive supercomputer constructed by Microsoft, one of its largest backers, that uses 10,000 of Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs).
Running ChatGPT is very expensive for the company. Each query costs roughly 4 cents, according to an analysis from Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. If ChatGPT queries grow to a tenth the scale of Google search, it would require roughly $48.1 billion worth of GPUs initially and about $16 billion worth of chips a year to keep operational.
OpenAI's main backer, Microsoft, is also developing a custom AI chip that OpenAI is testing, The Information has reported. The plans could signal further distancing between the two companies.
Demand for specialized AI chips has soared since the launch of ChatGPT last year. Specific chips, or AI accelerators, are necessary to train and run the latest generative AI technology. Nvidia is one of the few chipmakers that produces useful AI chips and dominates the market.
You must be logged in to post a comment.