Anthropic has started developing its own AI chips and is in early negotiations with Samsung Electronics for manufacturing, aiming to gain more control over the compute infrastructure for its Claude model. This move signals Anthropic's strategic push toward vertical integration in AI hardware, reducing reliance on external chip suppliers like Google and Amazon. If successful, it could enhance performance and cost-efficiency for Claude, similar to OpenAI's chip efforts. The project is still in early stages, and Anthropic may ultimately decide to only purchase AI chips instead. Custom AI chip development is extremely costly, with R&D potentially exceeding $500 million.
Background
Major AI companies like Meta, OpenAI, and Google are increasingly developing custom chips to reduce dependence on Nvidia GPUs and optimize for their specific workloads. Samsung's foundry business has recently begun selectively accepting new customers as the market shifts. Anthropic currently relies heavily on Google's TPUs and Amazon's custom chips for Claude's compute needs.