Amazon has announced an additional investment of $4 billion in the artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic, increasing its total investment in the company to $8 billion as competition intensifies among major tech companies in the AI sector.

Anthropic, known for its Claude generative AI software, stands as a significant competitor to OpenAI and its flagship product, ChatGPT, which dominates the AI tool market.

This latest agreement positions Amazon Web Services (AWS), the thriving cloud computing branch of Amazon, as the main provider of computational resources required for training Anthropic’s large language models.

Amazon has stated that it will “maintain its position as a minority investor” in Anthropic. The tech giant emphasized that by utilizing AWS’s extensive security features and compliance certifications, organizations can effectively implement AI solutions that adhere to rigorous regulatory standards, such as those required by governmental bodies.

Founded in 2021 by seven ex-OpenAI team members, including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, Anthropic has focused its messaging on the safe development and controllability of AI technologies, stemming from concerns over their potential risks.

Other notable investors in Anthropic include Salesforce and Google. Initially, the start-up secured $500 million from the failed cryptocurrency platform FTX, led by Sam Bankman-Fried, part of which was liquidated during FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Anthropic emphasizes a commitment to safety, aiming to create a chatbot that is meticulous in performance. It recently unveiled a new version that it claims has surpassed competitors like Google and OpenAI.

The companies stated in a joint communication that by merging Anthropic’s pioneering expertise in AI systems with AWS’s superior infrastructure, they are establishing a secure and enterprise-ready platform accessible to organizations of all sizes that wish to utilize cutting-edge AI technology.

This investment news follows a recent decision by the UK’s competition authority, which concluded its inquiry into Amazon’s investment in Anthropic, determining that it did not constitute a covert merger.

Furthermore, reports from Bloomberg indicate that the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to dismantle Google’s partnership with Anthropic as part of a competitive investigation related to Google’s dominance in online search.

Major tech firms continue to make substantial investments in leading AI developers, such as Microsoft’s multi-billion-dollar collaboration with OpenAI, as they strive to advance AI technologies that emulate human capabilities in writing, speech, and image generation, commonly referred to as “generative AI.”

These large-language models, which are crucial for such technologies, require significant computational power for training and operation, explaining the interest from financially robust companies with extensive data center infrastructure.