Anthropic Hires Google Chip Veteran Amir Salek to Lead Custom AI Chips Development

Anthropic hires Google chip veteran Amir Salek as part of push into hardware

AI firm Anthropic has hired a Google chip founder for its new semiconductor team. This move signals Anthropic's ambition to develop its own custom AI chips. The company is also securing significant data center capacity deals. Rival OpenAI is pursuing similar custom chip development strategies. These efforts aim to address supply shortages and optimize AI hardware. Anthropic PBC has hired Amir Salek, a founder of the custom chip program at Alphabet Inc's Google, as the AI lab lays the groundwork for a push into making its own semiconductors. Salek is joining the compute team of Anthropic, maker of the Claude platform, the AI company said Friday. The executive ran Google's tensor processing unit business until 2022 and delivered the first seven generations of those chips. In the new role, Salek will report to James Bradbury. Also Read: Samsung Electronics expects shareholder returns up to $80 billion this year Anthropic, which buys chips from a variety of sources, including Nvidia Corp, Google and Amazon.com, has indicated recently that it wants to build an in-house silicon business. The San Francisco-based company has begun hiring and listing jobs for the effort. Like other AI giants, Anthropic is scrambling to get enough data center infrastructure to support its ambitions. Custom chips would potentially help it cope with supply shortages and tailor designs to better meet its needs. Also Read: South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy says mulling US shipyard investment Rival OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is taking similar steps. It has unveiled a chip called Jalapeno, co-developed with Broadcom, and plans to begin using it later this year. Anthropic is signing chip and data center capacity deals at a rapid clip - working with both established and emerging vendors. The company has an agreement with UK-based chip startup Fractile for an initial order of roughly $250 million of its chips, with the intention to expand that contract in the future, Bloomberg News has reported. The AI lab also recently signed capacity deals with Riot Platforms and Volta Infra Holdings. After leaving Google, Salek has been senior managing director at Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm co-founded by Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg. He also previously worked at Nvidia, the leading maker of AI processors.

Anthropic hires ex-Google chip chief as AI lab pushes into hardware - Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Anthropic (NASDAQ:ANTP) has hired former Google executive Amir Salek to join its compute team as the artificial intelligence lab lays the groundwork for an in-house semiconductor initiative, according to a report from Bloomberg. Salek, who previously led Alphabet Inc.'s custom silicon efforts and delivered seven generations of Tensor Processing Units, will report directly to Anthropic compute lead James Bradbury. The executive recruitment underscores Anthropic's ambition to secure proprietary hardware architecture as hyperscalers and AI developers scramble for scarce data center infrastructure. While the maker of the Claude platform continues to buy chips from Nvidia Corp., Amazon.com Inc., and Google, establishing an internal silicon division is expected to help the company tailor hardware design to its operational requirements while mitigating ongoing supply chain bottlenecks. Analyze the report by upgrading to InvestingPro - get 55% off today The strategy reflects a broader trend among leading AI labs working to decrease dependence on external hardware suppliers and lower long-term compute costs. Rival OpenAI has taken similar measures by co-developing its custom Jalapeno chip alongside Broadcom Inc., which is scheduled for operational deployment later this year. To sustain its immediate compute demands alongside its long-term hardware development, Anthropic has been rapidly securing multi-vendor infrastructure agreements across the supply chain. Notably, the startup recently outlined an initial $250 million commitment to UK chip firm Fractile, while simultaneously securing additional data center capacity through deals with Riot Platforms Inc. and Volta Infra Holdings Ltd. Salek joins the San Francisco-based lab from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, where he served as senior managing director following his exit from Google in 2022. His background in scaling enterprise chip programs provides Anthropic with proven operational leadership as it begins active recruiting for its emerging hardware organization.