AMD, Anthropic announce $5 billion AI partnership to deploy 2GW MI450 GPUs

New Delhi: AMD and AI startup Anthropic have announced a strategic partnership to build one of the largest AI computing deployments to date. Anthropic will get access to up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of AMD Instinct MI450 Series GPUs Helios rack-scale systems, which will be available in the first half of 2027.

The partnership extends beyond just hardware. AMD has also agreed to make a strategic equity investment in Anthropic, while both companies will collaborate on various projects over the coming years to optimise for AMD hardware and enhance AMD’s ROCm AI software platform. This news was made by AMD and Anthropic on Tuesday.

Helios systems to power Claude AI

The new AI infrastructure will be based on AMD systems with Helios GPUs, EPYC ‘Venice’ processors, Pensando networking technology and AMD’s ROCm software. The launch comes on the heels of use of Anthropic’s own AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs, as it ramps up its computing power to meet demand for Claude.

AMD also says the engineering partnership will involve using Claude throughout the engineering and product development teams to speed up software development and optimise AI workloads.

Companies highlight long-term AI strategy

AMD Chair and CEO Dr Lisa Su said the Anthropic’s AI expertise with AMD’s high-performance computing technologies to accelerate AI adoption at scale.

Access to large-scale computing is critical to remain competitive and meet growing customer demand for Claude,” said Anthropic co-founder and chief compute officer Tom Brown. A broader range of AI hardware enables the company to match workloads with the most appropriate infrastructure, he added.

The deal follows Anthropic’s ongoing investments in expanding its AI systems partnerships. The company has recently inked big computer deals with Amazon, Google, Broadcom, and SpaceX to step up its capacity as it sees its Claude AI platform expanding at a rapid pace.