Microsoft in Talks to Supply Custom AI Chips to Anthropic
Quick Look
- Microsoft is reportedly in talks to supply its custom AI chips, the Maia, to Anthropic, a move that would bolster Microsoft's position against rivals Amazon and Google in the AI silicon market.
- Anthropic has faced compute challenges and has existing deals with Amazon and Google.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Microsoft is seeking to strengthen its position in the AI silicon market, where it trails rivals Amazon and Google. Anthropic, a growing AI company, has expressed difficulties with its computing capacity needs. Both companies have existing financial ties.
Microsoft is in talks to supply its custom artificial intelligence chips to Anthropic, CNBC confirmed on Thursday.
A deal would represent a win for Microsoft, which is behind cloud rivals Amazon and Google when it comes to supplying clients with special-purpose AI silicon. Microsoft announced its second-generation Maia AI chip in January, but has yet to make it available through its Azure cloud. The company did say the Maia 200 processor would run OpenAI's GPT-5.2 model.
Anthropic has not yet closed a deal with Microsoft over the use of the Maia, said a person familiar with the deal who asked not to be named in order to discuss internal matters. The Information reported on the discussions earlier on Thursday.
Shares of Microsoft were little changed.
In November, Microsoft said it would invest $5 billion in Anthropic, while Anthropic committed to spending $30 billion on Azure. Anthropic also relies on cloud services from Amazon and Google.
Anthropic has had "difficulties with compute," Dario Amodei, the company's co-founder and CEO, said at an event earlier this month.
Its Claude assistant and Claude Code tool for AI-assisted programming have become more popular this year, which has made Anthropic's needs for computing capacity more dire.
On Wednesday, SpaceX disclosed that Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for computing power.
Historically, Anthropic has leaned heavily on graphics processing units from Nvidia to train and run generative AI models. In April, Anthropic said it would use Amazon Web Services' custom Trainium chips in a 10-year arrangement worth more than $100 billion. Anthropic announced plans to use Google's tensor processing unit chips in October.
Anthropic declined to comment. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft's Maia 200 "offers over 30% improved tokens per dollar, compared to the latest silicon in our fleet," CEO Satya Nadella said on the company's earnings call in April.
He said the chips are now running in Microsoft data centers in Arizona and Iowa.
WATCH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: With Anthropic, we are scaling very quickly, we have big plans for them
Open Questions
- Will Anthropic finalize a deal with Microsoft for Maia chips?
- What is the specific timeline for Microsoft to make Maia chips available through Azure?
- How will this potential deal affect Anthropic's existing relationships with Amazon and Google?
- What are the specific performance improvements Anthropic expects from Microsoft's Maia chips compared to competitors?
