Weight-Loss Drug Ads Take Over the Super Bowl as Pharma Embraces Direct-to-Consumer Marketing 
Thailand Inflation Remains Negative for 10th Straight Month in January 
Britain has almost 1 million young people not in work or education – here’s what evidence shows can change that 
SpaceX Pushes for Early Stock Index Inclusion Ahead of Potential Record-Breaking IPO 
Trump Backs Nexstar–Tegna Merger Amid Shifting U.S. Media Landscape 
Tencent Shares Slide After WeChat Restricts YuanBao AI Promotional Links 
How to support someone who is grieving: five research-backed strategies 
Why have so few atrocities ever been recognised as genocide? 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
U.S. Stock Futures Slide as Tech Rout Deepens on Amazon Capex Shock 
Sam Altman Reaffirms OpenAI’s Long-Term Commitment to NVIDIA Amid Chip Report 
South Korea’s Weak Won Struggles as Retail Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Stocks 
Oracle Plans $45–$50 Billion Funding Push in 2026 to Expand Cloud and AI Infrastructure 
SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Baidu Approves $5 Billion Share Buyback and Plans First-Ever Dividend in 2026 
Disaster or digital spectacle? The dangers of using floods to create social media content 
Anthropic Eyes $350 Billion Valuation as AI Funding and Share Sale Accelerate 
Amazon is investing $4 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic. The strategic partnership will leverage advanced generative AI, with Anthropic primarily utilizing Amazon's robust cloud services and cutting-edge custom chips for enhanced system training and deployment.
This investment is a testament to the increasing interest of tech giants in AI and their eagerness to capitalize on its potential. Amazon and Anthropic plan to collaborate on developing foundation models, which serve as the backbone for generative AI systems.
These models have gained significant global attention for their ability to create text, images, and videos that closely resemble human work. They are trained using vast amounts of online information, including blog posts, digital books, scientific articles, and popular songs.
Under the agreement, Anthropic will primarily use Amazon's cloud computing service and benefit from their custom chips. This integration will greatly aid in training and deploying their generative AI systems.
Anthropic, based in San Francisco, was founded by former employees of OpenAI, the company behind the famous ChatGPT AI chatbot. Anthropic has developed its competitor, Claude, which boasts advanced capabilities such as sophisticated dialogue, creative content generation, complex reasoning, and detailed instruction.
This move by Amazon reflects the intense competition in the AI landscape as it seeks to catch up with rivals like Microsoft. Microsoft had invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and made further multibillion-dollar investments this year.
Amazon has been introducing new services to stay ahead in the AI arms race. For instance, they recently updated their popular virtual assistant, Alexa, to enable more human-like conversations. Additionally, they now offer AI-generated summaries of product reviews for consumers.
Amazon reinforces its commitment to AI development with its substantial investment in Anthropic and strengthened collaboration. The partnership aims to leverage foundation models and generative AI systems, bringing them to new heights and unlocking their potential in various domains.
Photo: Nik/Unsplash
