US chipmaker AMD said on Wednesday that it is set to invest up to US$5 billion in artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic, as both companies announced a partnership that also includes a major order for processors.

The deal signals the ambition of the California-based AMD as it seeks to position itself as a competitor to Nvidia in the market for high-performance AI chips.

Anthropic is set to purchase up to two gigawatts of AMD's latest-generation chips, known as the Instinct MI450, under the agreement.

Deployment of the first gigawatt is due to begin in 2027, AMD said.

"This collaboration brings together Anthropic's leadership in frontier AI with the full strength of AMD high-performance computing," AMD chief executive Lisa Su said in a statement.

Su added that both companies look to speed up AI adoption at scale.

"Access to compute is central to keeping Claude at the frontier and meeting demand from our customers," added Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown.

With the partnership, AMD has committed to make "a strategic equity investment of up to US$5 billion in Anthropic in the future," the company said. (AFP)



Edited by Robert Kemp