In an attempt to stay competitive in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has announced a substantial investment in AI startup Anthropic. The tech giant is set to inject up to $4 billion into the fledgling company, as announced on Monday.

Anthropic, launched by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei in 2021, is a direct competitor to OpenAI. Both founders are former employees of OpenAI, further intensifying the competition in the AI field. Anthropic has made its mark with its AI assistant Claude, which competes directly with ChatGPT.

The investment comes on the heels of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s extensive multi-year financial commitment to OpenAI. Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), another significant player in the AI race, has also invested in Anthropic. These investments underscore the escalating interest and competition in the AI sector among technology giants.

As part of the deal, Amazon will acquire a minority stake in Anthropic. The startup plans to use Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) proprietary chips to develop, train, and deploy its AI software. AWS will become Anthropic’s primary cloud provider under this agreement.

In addition to providing infrastructure support, Amazon will offer its cloud customers early access to Anthropic’s technology via Amazon Bedrock, the firm’s AI platform for businesses. This strategic move underlines Amazon’s determination not to fall behind its competitors in this rapidly expanding sector.

The investment signifies a significant commitment from Amazon to advance its position in the AI race against other tech behemoths.