San Francisco startup Anthropic is often cast as an independent player in AI races and has a deeper connection to Google than previously known. Court documents recently obtained by The New York Times reveal that Google owns 14% of the company and is planning to pour an additional $750 million through convertible debt transactions. In total, Google’s investment in humanity is currently over $3 billion.
Despite lack of voting rights, board seats, or direct control over the company, Google’s support raises questions about how many independent humanity actually exists. As AI startups increasingly rely on funding from tech giants, regulators have scrutinized whether these transactions would offer unfair benefits to incumbents, but the Department of Justice has dropped a proposal to force the sale of some of these interests.
Google, which is developing its own technology while quietly funding its competitors, is clearly hedging its bet. Meanwhile, as Amazon focuses its funds on humanity, it has agreed to invest up to $8 billion in clothing so far, but it’s only natural to wonder what such bonds mean for humanity and other big AI startups. Are they still heretics or are they an extension of major technology?
Above: Dario Amody, co-founder and CEO of humanity, speaks at Viva Technology in Paris.