Microsoft and Nvidia invest in Anthropic as an AI infrastructure deal secures $30B in Azure computing, reshaping cloud competition with OpenAI.
Microsoft has announced a major partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic and chipmaker Nvidia, in a move that signals a shift in the software giant’s AI strategy away from its longtime reliance on OpenAI.
Under the agreement, Anthropic, creator of the Claude chatbot, will purchase $30 billion in computing capacity from Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. Nvidia will invest up to $10 billion in the San Francisco-based company, while Microsoft will commit up to $5 billion. The announcements came ahead of Microsoft’s annual Ignite developer conference, where executives detailed plans to expand AI infrastructure and applications.
“This is all about deepening our commitment to bringing the best infrastructure, model choice and applications to our customers,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during a joint video call with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Nadella emphasized that the deal complements Microsoft’s ongoing partnership with OpenAI.
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Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI leaders, develops Claude to compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The startup said Claude will now be the only frontier AI model available across the three largest cloud providers: Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, with Amazon remaining its primary platform. The deal includes access to up to a gigawatt of Nvidia’s specialized AI chip capacity, bolstering Claude’s computing capabilities.
The partnership highlights a growing diversification in AI cloud infrastructure. Microsoft was previously OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider and built its own AI Copilot assistant on ChatGPT’s underlying technology. OpenAI has since expanded its cloud capacity with deals involving Oracle, SoftBank, and other data center providers, prompting some tensions over access and scale. Microsoft retains a roughly 27% stake in OpenAI’s new for-profit corporation.
AI models like Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Google’s Gemini are reshaping workflows across industries, but they require enormous computing power and energy. Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI has reported consistent profitability, raising investor concerns over whether these high-cost models can justify expectations.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised Anthropic’s work, noting, “This is the first time we are going to deeply partner with Anthropic to accelerate Claude.” At the Ignite conference, Anthropic’s Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger highlighted shared ambitions with Microsoft, pointing to alignment in AI research and development priorities.
The deal positions Microsoft, Anthropic, and Nvidia as key players in the evolving AI ecosystem, securing cloud infrastructure dominance while intensifying competition with OpenAI and other global AI innovators.
