Advanced Micro Devices has agreed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI model, as part of a strategic partnership that includes a massive order for the chipmaker’s latest processors. Under the terms announced on Wednesday, Anthropic will purchase up to two gigawatts of capacity based on AMD’s forthcoming Instinct MI450 chips, with the first gigawatt of deployment scheduled for the first half of 2027. The equity investment, described by AMD as a “strategic equity investment of up to $5 billion in the future,” is conditional on the achievement of certain deployment milestones, the company said.

Viewed from Santa Clara, the pact is a direct move to strengthen AMD’s position against Nvidia in the market for high-performance artificial intelligence chips. AMD chief executive Lisa Su stated that the collaboration “brings together Anthropic’s leadership in frontier AI with the full strength of AMD high-performance computing” and would accelerate AI adoption at scale. For Anthropic, co-founder Tom Brown said access to compute is “central to keeping Claude at the frontier and meeting demand from our customers.” The San Francisco-based start-up has been racing to secure sufficient computing capacity, having previously signed agreements with Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI and held talks with Meta Platforms, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The deal provides AMD with a high-profile validation of its new Helios rack systems, which are expected to cost between $5 million and $5.5 million per unit, according to estimates by the Futurum Group cited in French press. It also places Anthropic alongside other major AMD customers such as Meta, OpenAI and Microsoft. The partnership follows a pattern of interlocking chip orders and equity stakes that has drawn scrutiny from some investors, who view such arrangements as a way to artificially inflate processor demand. In October, OpenAI announced a 6-gigawatt deployment of AMD GPUs alongside financial instruments that could convert into a stake of just under 10% in the semiconductor firm.

Anthropic’s latest funding round in May valued the company at $965 billion, meaning AMD’s investment will represent a stake of less than 1%, according to Le Figaro. The agreement is the latest in a series of supply diversification moves by the AI developer, which also counts Nvidia and Google among its investors and chip suppliers. The deployment of the first gigawatt of capacity is expected to begin in 2027, with the investment tranches tied to the fulfilment of agreed technical milestones.