Anthropic is in early talks to buy AI inference chips from U.K. startup Fractile, according to a report by The Information. The move comes as demand for its Claude models surges and puts pressure on the company’s computing systems.
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New trading tool for AMZN bullsThe report says Anthropic is exploring new chip suppliers beyond its current partners, which include Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Nvidia (NVDA). The goal is to reduce costs and gain more control over how its systems run.
At the same time, the company’s spending on servers and chips could reach tens of billions of dollars per year. That scale is forcing a rethink of how AI firms build and manage their infrastructure.
A Shift Away from Nvidia Dependence
Anthropic has long taken a different path from peers like OpenAI. Instead of relying on a single chip provider, it uses a mix of hardware across cloud platforms.
For example, the company recently agreed to buy chips from Alphabet so that it can run outside of Google Cloud. This gives it more direct control over performance and cost.
Now, it is also looking at smaller players like Fractile. The startup is working on inference chips that aim to run AI models more efficiently than standard graphics processing units. These chips use static random-access memory, which helps reduce the need to move data between components.
This matters because running AI models, also known as inference, has become a major cost driver. The report notes that Anthropic’s margins were hit last year by “higher-than-expected inference costs,” while OpenAI has faced similar issues.
As a result, AI firms are now focused on lowering these costs. One way to do that is by using chips that are built for serving models, not just training them.
Compute Demand Pushes New Strategy
At the same time, demand for Anthropic’s products is rising fast. The company’s revenue pace has tripled since the end of last year. However, that growth has strained its systems.
In recent weeks, some users faced limits during peak hours, and others reported outages. This shows how tight the compute supply has become, even for well-funded players.
To address this, Anthropic has signed large cloud deals with Amazon and Alphabet. In April, it secured agreements for hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of server capacity, though much of that will take time to come online.
In parallel, the company is exploring longer-term options. That includes potential deals with startups like Fractile, as well as the idea of building its own chips.
For now, any deal with Fractile would not help in the near term. The startup’s chips are not expected to be ready for data centers until next year at the earliest.
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