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$15 billion investment in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence startup behind the Claude chatbot, as competition intensifies in the generative AI sector and concerns mount over a potential market bubble.
Nvidia pledged up to $10 billion while Microsoft committed up to $5 billion to the San Francisco-based company, which positions itself as prioritizing safety in AI development. Microsoft already holds a 27 percent stake in Anthropic's rival OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT.
The investments form part of a broader commercial agreement under which Anthropic will purchase $30 billion in cloud computing capacity from Microsoft and deploy the latest versions of Nvidia's chip technology in its operations.
"We're increasingly going to be customers of each other," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an online video announcing the agreement. "We will use Anthropic models. They will use our infrastructure, and we'll go to market together to help our customers realize the value of AI."
The deal represents a significant shift in the competitive landscape of generative AI, where companies including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are vying for dominance. Google released its latest Gemini model on Tuesday, the same day as the Anthropic investment announcement.
Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic has developed the Claude family of AI models as its flagship product line.
Financial markets reacted negatively to the news amid broader concerns about overvaluation in the AI sector. Shares in Nvidia, currently the world's largest company by market capitalization, fell as much as three percent during Tuesday trading. Microsoft's stock declined nearly 3.5 percent.
The fresh investment values Anthropic at $350 billion, according to sources who spoke to CNBC, making it one of the world's most valuable companies. OpenAI's most recent valuation stood at $500 billion.
The investments come as Wall Street analysts increasingly warn of a potential bubble in AI-related assets, with concerns mounting over whether the sector's valuations can be sustained by actual revenue and profits.
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