Anthropic’s Competitors Have A Spare Key To Its Future

The awkward part of trying to beat Amazon, Google and Microsoft at artificial intelligence is asking Amazon, Google and Microsoft to make room for the attempt.

Anthropic needs their cloud capacity. Increasingly, they regard it as a competitor. TechCrunch reports that a leaked filing describes trouble securing enough computing capacity from those partners. It is an excellent arrangement for the partners: they can sell the challenger equipment and also have opinions about how much challenger will fit in the building.

There is no need to imagine a secret meeting to see the conflict. A company can be a valuable customer and an inconvenient rival at the same time. The sales department sees a purchase order. The strategy department sees a purchase order that talks back. Anthropic has achieved the distinction of being welcome in the lobby and concerning upstairs.

Its contemplated cloud commitments could exceed $750 billion, including deals still under negotiation. That figure is not a settled bill. It is nevertheless a remarkable amount of potential purchasing power to bring into a conversation that still contains the words “enough capacity.” Ordinary customers discover that money cannot buy happiness. At this scale, it may also fail to buy sufficient racks.

The alternative is to lease data centers and work with other operators. That loosens dependence on the biggest rivals, while introducing concern about providers with less operating history. Choose the experienced supplier who competes with you, or the supplier whose experience is still loading. The escape route has its own diligence folder.

There is revenue behind the ambition: TechCrunch reports $16.8 billion in the third quarter, sharply up from the previous quarter. It also reports an $80.7 billion first-half net loss and that two customers generated roughly a fifth of first-half sales. These figures describe different periods and do not establish insolvency. They do show why “just go elsewhere” is doing extraordinary unpaid labor in discussions of this business.

The company did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. Its reported November flotation plans would bring investors into an enterprise with a very concrete condition attached to its expansive future: someone must supply the machines.

Our previous encounter with AI’s actual plug has acquired a commercial complication. The plug belongs to somebody with a competing product. Anthropic can sell intelligence by the subscription. Before it does, it needs to negotiate how much room the other intelligence sellers will let it occupy.