Global e-commerce giant has announced an investment of up to $4 billion in Anthropic, an emerging AI firm. The strategic partnership also includes Amazon taking a minority ownership position in Anthropic. This landmark decision underscores Amazon’s relentless pursuit of AI technologies as it aims to stay competitive with industry giants such as Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google.
Founded just two years ago, Anthropic boasts a roster of former research executives from OpenAI and recently introduced its newest AI chatbot, Claude 2. Amazon is strategically positioning itself to capitalise on the growing momentum surrounding generative AI, encompassing technologies like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude chatbots.
The collaboration between the two companies will drive advancements in generative AI, with Anthropic selecting Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its primary cloud provider. AWS customers will gain exclusive early access to features for model customisation and fine-tuning capabilities. Furthermore, Anthropic plans to harness custom semiconductors developed by AWS for training the foundational models that underpin its AI applications. These foundational models, massive AI programs trained on extensive datasets, possess the versatility to adapt to a wide range of tasks.
Notably, chip manufacturer Nvidia has enjoyed substantial gains in the generative AI market, primarily due to its graphics processing units (GPUs), widely employed for training large AI models.
Amazon’s partnership with Anthropic not only signifies a significant investment but also serves as a testament to the viability of alternative chips for AI applications, diversifying from the conventional GPU dominance. AWS customers will soon be equipped to build upon Anthropic’s AI models through Amazon Bedrock, a service that empowers users to create generative AI applications in the cloud using pre-existing models, negating the need to train their own.
Amazon’s ambition is to position itself as the premier destination for AI solutions, as it designs its own chips tailored for training expansive AI models and offers a range of AI applications for sale.
Anthropic has already garnered support from high-profile backers, including technology giants Google and Salesforce Ventures. This support comes amid a broader industry trend where tech giants are making substantial investments in AI companies, reminiscent of Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, earlier this year.
As the AI landscape continues to evolve and reshape industries, Amazon’s strategic investment in Anthropic reinforces its commitment to remaining at the forefront of AI innovation. With this move, Amazon stands poised to make significant strides in the rapidly expanding field of artificial intelligence.
