Google has invested $2 billion in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) company, making an upfront commitment of $500 million into the OpenAI rival.
According to the spokesperson for the startup, the deal would involve $1.5 billion being invested over time.
Anthropic is the developer of Claude 2, a rival chatbot to OpenAI’s ChatGPT used by companies including Slack, Notion and Quora. The company which was founded in 2021, has received funding from Salesforce and Zoom in addition to Google. It was valued earlier this year at $4.1 billion.
As Big Tech firms compete to infuse AI into their applications and operations, Google’s fresh investment in Anthropic would underscore a ramp-up in its efforts to compete with Microsoft, owner and sponsor of ChatGPT and creator, OpenAI.
Also, online retailer, Amazon in its quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week, revealed that it had invested $1.25 billion in Anthropic, hoping to add $2.75 billion by the first quarter of 2024, as the company last month detailed $4 billion worth investment in the startup to compete with growing cloud rivals on AI.
The rising number of investments shows ongoing maneuvering by cloud companies to secure ties with the AI startups that are reshaping their industry.
Anthropic, co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings, Dario and Daniela Amodei, revealed efforts to secure the resources and deep-pocketed backers needed to compete with OpenAI and be leaders in the technology sector.