Google Considers Increased Stake in Anthropic Amid AI Arms Race

Alphabet's Google is negotiating a potential expansion of its investment in AI startup Anthropic, creator of the Claude chatbot. The deal could value Anthropic at over $350 billion, marking Google's latest move to compete with Microsoft and OpenAI in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence sector.

The tech giant has already committed more than $3 billion to Anthropic, securing a 14% stake. Current discussions explore various investment structures, including cloud partnerships or convertible notes, with final terms expected early next year. This follows October's landmark cloud agreement that granted Anthropic access to Google's TPU clusters and cloud services.

Market observers note the investment underscores the growing importance of AI infrastructure, particularly as demand for training compute intensifies. Google's deepening ties with Anthropic position it strategically against rivals investing heavily in generative AI capabilities.