– Amazon makes its largest external investment ever, allocating $2.75 billion to Anthropic, a San Francisco-based AI startup.

– Anthropic, known for its generative AI model Claude, competes directly with industry leaders OpenAI and ChatGPT.

– This investment follows an initial $1.25 billion funding round in September, with Amazon poised to invest up to $4 billion in total.

Amazon is embarking on its largest external investment in its thirty-year history, aiming to bolster its position in the artificial intelligence realm.

The tech company announced a further $2.75 billion investment in Anthropic, a San Francisco-based startup recognized for its leadership in generative artificial intelligence. 

Anthropic‘s flagship model and chatbot, Claude, directly competes with industry giants OpenAI and ChatGPT.

This infusion follows an initial $1.25 billion investment declared in September, with Amazon committing up to $4 billion in total. 

This latest development marks the second tranche of funding in the agreement. Amazon will retain a minority stake in Anthropic and abstain from securing a board seat, adhering to the terms of the deal struck at the AI startup’s last valuation, which stood at $18.4 billion.

Anthropic has sealed five funding rounds totaling approximately $7.3 billion.

Founded by former OpenAI research executives and employees, the company’s offerings directly challenge OpenAI’s ChatGPT across both enterprise and consumer sectors.

Amazon’s investment announcement coincides with the launch of Anthropic’s latest suite of AI models, Claude 3, touted as the company’s swiftest and most potent yet. According to Anthropic, its premier model outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Gemini Ultra in industry benchmarks.