Anthropic, Google in talks on multibillion-dollar cloud deal to boost AI power and challenge OpenAI

Anthropic is reportedly in discussions with Google for a massive cloud computing deal worth tens of billions of dollars, a move that could significantly boost the AI startup’s computing capacity and sharpen its competition with OpenAI.

According to Bloomberg, the potential agreement would see Alphabet’s Google provide additional cloud infrastructure to Anthropic. The deal is still being finalized, but if completed, it would mark one of the largest cloud partnerships in the AI sector to date.

The timing couldn’t be more interesting. On the same day, Google’s stock took a sharp hit—losing nearly $160 billion in market value within hours—after OpenAI launched its new browser product, ChatGPT Atlas. But following reports of the Anthropic deal, Alphabet shares climbed 2.3% in after-hours trading, signaling renewed investor confidence in Google’s AI ambitions.

“Anthropic PBC is in discussions with Alphabet Inc.’s Google about a deal that would provide the artificial intelligence company with additional computing power valued in the high tens of billions of dollars,” Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Both companies declined to comment on the ongoing talks.

Anthropic, best known for its Claude chatbot, counts Google and Amazon among its biggest backers. The company has been gaining ground in the AI race, positioning Claude as a serious alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Just last week, Reuters reported that Anthropic expects to more than double, and possibly triple, its annualized revenue run rate next year. The startup is on pace to hit a $9 billion annual revenue run rate by the end of 2025—an astonishing target for a company that only launched its chatbot two years ago.

For Google, deepening its relationship with Anthropic could help it regain footing in the ongoing AI arms race. After trailing OpenAI and Microsoft in consumer-facing AI tools, Google appears intent on securing a front-row seat in the infrastructure battle—the unseen engine that fuels the next generation of large language models.

If the deal goes through, Anthropic’s access to Google’s vast compute resources could accelerate training for future Claude models and strengthen its enterprise offerings. For now, both sides remain tight-lipped, but the message is clear: the fight for AI dominance is shifting from software features to raw computing scale—and Anthropic wants a bigger piece of it.