Exclusive: Anthropic weighs building it own AI chips, sources say

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic is exploring the possibility of designing its own chips, three sources said, as the company and its rivals respond to a shortage of AI chips needed to power and develop more advanced AI systems.

The plans are in early stages and the company may still decide to only buy AI chips and not design any, according to two people with knowledge of the matter and one person briefed on ⁠Anthropic's plans. The company has yet to commit to a specific design or put together a dedicated team to work on the project, one of the sources said.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company declined to comment on the article.

Demand for its AI model Claude has accelerated in 2026, with the startup's run-rate revenue now surpassing $30 billion, up from about $9 billion at the end of 2025, Anthropic said earlier this week.

Anthropic uses a range of ⁠chips, including tensor processing units (TPUs) designed by Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google and Amazon's chips (AMZN.O), opens new tab to develop and run its AI software and chatbot Claude.

Earlier this week, Anthropic signed a long-term deal with Google and Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab, which helps design the TPUs. That deal ⁠builds on the company's commitment to invest $50 billion in strengthening U.S. computing infrastructure.

Anthropic's discussions mirror similar efforts underway at large tech companies that are seeking to design ⁠their own AI chips, including Meta (META.O), opens new tab and OpenAI.

Designing an advanced AI chip can cost roughly half a billion dollars, according to industry sources, as ⁠companies need to employ skilled engineers and spend to make sure the manufacturing process has no defects.

Reporting by Max A. Cherney and Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Aurora Ellis

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Max A. Cherney

Thomson Reuters

Max A. Cherney is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where he reports on the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. He joined Reuters in 2023 and has previously worked for Barron's magazine and its sister publication, MarketWatch. Cherney graduated from Trent University with a degree in history.