AMD is preparing to sell billions of dollars worth of AI servers to Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude chatbot. The chipmaker also plans to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, according to sources familiar with the deal.
Server deal details
The agreement covers a multi-year supply of AMD's Instinct MI-series accelerators, which are designed to handle the heavy computing loads required to train and run large language models. Anthropic will use the servers to expand its own AI infrastructure. The exact volume and dollar value of the server sales have not been disclosed, but the figure is expected to run into the billions.
AMD has been pushing its MI300X and upcoming MI400 chips as alternatives to Nvidia's dominant H100 and B200 processors. Landing a customer like Anthropic gives AMD a marquee name in the AI arms race and signals that cloud providers and AI labs are willing to diversify their hardware supply.
Investment and valuation
The investment of up to $5 billion would make AMD one of Anthropic's largest backers. Anthropic has already raised billions from Google, Salesforce, and others. The company's valuation is projected to hit $1.25 trillion by December 31, according to a prediction market that gives that outcome an 84.5% probability. That would put Anthropic in the same league as the world's most valuable public companies.
The investment is expected to close in stages, with the first tranche tied to the server purchase agreement. Neither AMD nor Anthropic has commented publicly on the terms.
What the deal means
For AMD, the deal provides a concrete revenue stream in the AI server market, where it has been gaining share but still trails Nvidia. For Anthropic, it secures access to cutting-edge hardware at a time when demand for AI compute is outstripping supply. The partnership also deepens the ties between chipmakers and AI labs, a trend that has reshaped the industry over the past year.
The prediction market's 84.5% probability for a $1.25 trillion valuation by year-end suggests investors are betting big on Anthropic's growth. That figure would represent a massive leap from its last private valuation of around $18 billion in early 2024.
The deal is expected to close in the coming months, with the first shipments of servers likely to begin before the end of the year.
