Google has agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded by former executives of OpenAI, as confirmed by CNBC. The investment includes an upfront cash infusion of $500 million and an additional $1.5 billion to be invested over time. Anthropic, the developer of Claude 2, a rival chatbot to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has already received funding from other companies such as Salesforce and Zoom and was valued at $4.1 billion earlier this year.
Claude 2, developed by Anthropic, has the unique ability to summarize up to 75,000 words, equivalent to the length of a book. It allows users to input large data sets and request summaries in the form of memos, letters, or stories. In contrast, ChatGPT can only handle about 3,000 words. Research conducted by Arthur AI, a machine learning monitoring platform, has recognized Claude 2 as the most reliable chatbot when it comes to “self-awareness” and accurately determining its knowledge and answering questions based on available training data.
In April, Google invested $300 million in Anthropic, taking a 10% stake in the company. Anthropic then raised an additional $450 million in funding in May, marking one of the largest funding rounds for an AI company since Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI. Anthropic’s co-founders, Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, former executives of OpenAI, along with other OpenAI research alumni, have dedicated significant time and resources to develop their latest chatbot, with a team of 30 to 35 people directly working on the AI model and a total of 150 people supporting it.
According to Daniela Amodei, the market for large language models and AI systems is experiencing unprecedented demand, creating opportunities for multiple players to succeed. Despite competition, she believes there is ample room for different users and types of users to make use of these systems. The investment from Google further solidifies Anthropic’s position in the AI industry.
For more information, watch the video on the valuation reckoning in the AI industry.
