#What is Google's Strategy with Anthropic's AI Models?
Google has announced its intention to continue providing artificial intelligence models developed by Anthropic through its cloud platform, excluding any defense-related projects. This announcement comes shortly after Microsoft made a similar commitment. These moves by two of the leading cloud infrastructure providers follow the classification of Anthropic as a supply chain risk by the US Department of Defense.
A Google spokesperson affirmed that this classification would not hinder ongoing collaborations with Anthropic for non-defense initiatives. As a result, the products will remain accessible via platforms like Google Cloud, where Anthropic’s Claude AI models are integrated into the Vertex AI platform. Moreover, Google has significantly invested in Anthropic, committing an additional one billion dollars in January 2025, which follows an earlier investment of two billion dollars.
Anthropic's use of Google Cloud resources enables them to train their AI models efficiently. The partnership recently advanced, allowing Anthropic access to a substantial pool of Google's custom tensor processing units, which are instrumental in AI development.
The tension arose when Anthropic rejected new terms proposed by the Department of Defense concerning the utilization of its AI technologies. Following this, federal agencies were instructed by President Donald Trump to cease using Anthropic's technologies, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicating a phased withdrawal from collaboration over six months.
In response to these developments, some defense-related technology firms have advised their employees to transition from using Anthropic’s Claude models to options from competitors like OpenAI.
Microsoft was the first prominent cloud provider to affirm ongoing support for Anthropic products despite the Pentagon's designation. Microsoft confirmed that its legal team conducted a thorough review, concluding that Anthropic's offerings can still be provided to customers outside the Department of War.
In a noteworthy development, Anthropic's CEO indicated plans to contest the government's supply chain risk designation through legal channels. Additionally, reports indicate that Amazon also plans to maintain the availability of Anthropic's AI technology for its cloud customers, albeit with similar exclusions concerning the Department of Defense.