Google Bets $2 Billion on AI Startup Anthropic, Inks Cloud Deal
Google has committed to invest $2 billion in the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, solidifying its relationship with the startup darling and stoking the Silicon Valley frenzy for AI.
The deal is structured as a convertible note, a type of debt that will convert to equity at the startup's next funding round, an Anthropic spokesperson confirmed. The deal closely follows another large convertible note investment into Anthropic from Amazon.com Inc. for up to $4 billion earlier this year.
With the latest financing, Alphabet Inc.'s Google invested $500 million with a commitment to add $1.5 billion more in the future, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The investment is in addition to the $550 million Google put into Anthropic earlier this year.
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Prior to the financing, Google also signed a major cloud agreement with Anthropic, according to one person familiar with the details. The cloud deal, in which Anthropic will use Google's suite of computing services, was even larger than the latest investment, and will stretch over multiple years, the person said.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported details of the Google investment.
Anthropic's flurry of dealmaking this year has been led in part by a new hire, Vu Bui, its head of strategic finance and investor relations, who started in September, according to his LinkedIn profile. Bui has been instrumental in orchestrating the company's talks with investors, one of the people said.
The next step for Anthropic may be to raise traditional funding, rather than convertible debt. At that point, both Google and Amazon's shares will convert to equity and the
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