This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Microsoft (MSFT, Financials) is reportedly set to spend roughly $500 million annually on Anthropic’s artificial intelligence services as it deepens its use of the startup’s technology across its products. The Information reported that Microsoft has emerged as one of Anthropic’s top customers, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The spending highlights Microsoft’s strategy to diversify its AI partnerships beyond OpenAI, whose models already power parts of Microsoft 365, Azure, and Copilot tools. Anthropic’s Claude AI systems are being deployed to support new Microsoft products and infrastructure, expanding the company’s reach in enterprise and consumer applications.
As big tech companies compete more in generative AI, this deal comes at a good time. Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft have all spent billions of dollars to get access to advanced AI models. Their goal is to improve cloud services and find new ways to make money.
Microsoft’s relationship with Anthropic is similar to Amazon’s investment of up to $4 billion in the same company. This shows that both companies believe that foundation models could be useful for big businesses. As spending rises, investors are keeping an eye on how quickly these collaborations lead to business growth and long-term profits.
