Anthropic is discussing a new custom chip with Samsung

Anthropic is in discussions with Samsung to explore a collaboration on a new custom AI chip, according to a report from The Information. This follows earlier reports from Reuters in April that Anthropic was considering producing its own AI chips to address chip shortages. However, Anthropic has not yet decided on the chip's specific use, how it will fit into the server, or its power level. When reached for comment, Anthropic told TechCrunch that a diversified hardware stack including chips from Google, Amazon, and Nvidia will continue to be pivotal to its compute strategy, but had nothing further to add regarding a potential Samsung partnership. The move is part of a broader trend among AI companies to develop custom chips to create unique hardware for specific tasks and gain independence from Nvidia, the current leader in the chip industry. Anthropic's announcement may also be a response to OpenAI's recent partnership with Broadcom to announce its own custom-built inference processor, "Jalapeño." Samsung is already deeply embedded in the AI industry as a major partner of Nvidia, producing chips for training and running AI models, and the duo are working on an AI chip factory in South Korea. Samsung has also discussed partnering with Google on its chip-making efforts.