Google Cloud has reportedly invested $300 million into artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic, which also received more than $500 million in funding from former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried about six months before FTX collapsed.
When the $300 million figure was reported by the Financial Times on February 4, Anthropic confirmed its investment partnership with Google Cloud the same day although it did not disclose any figures:
We love using Google Cloud to train our AI systems, including Claude! https://t.co/IaqQ5lpJrP https://t.co/vOn5Cj4sPt
– Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) February 3, 2023
In the same announcement, Anthropic also confirmed that it previously raised capital from Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, among others, in a Series B fundraising round:
The Series B round was led by Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX. The round also included participation from Caroline Ellison, Jim McClave, Nishad Singh, Jaan Tallinn, and the Center for Emerging Risk Research (CERR).
The fundraising effort led by Bankman-Fried is set to take place in April 2022, according to Crunchbase.
A recent post by The New York Times reported that of the $580 million raised, approximately $530 million came from Bankman-Fried and his former business partners.
But some believe that the number is even higher.
One FTX creditor believe Bankman-Fried’s stake in the AI company could be as much as $1.1 billion. However, the lender did not elaborate on the figure.
Other members of the Crypto Twitter community as well speculation whether the Bankman-Fried shares will be used to pay off the huge debt pile that FTX has accumulated from the recent controversy.
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For the partnership, Anthropic will now use Google Cloud’s GPU and TPU clusters to train, scale, and implement its AI chat box, called “Claude” — similar to OpenAI’s ChatGTP.
Google Cloud received about 10% stake in Anthropic, according to the Financial Times.
While it remains to be seen where most of the debt lies in the FTX bankruptcy case, Bankman-Fried personally pleaded not guilty to all eight counts of fraud and conspiracy brought against him on January 3.
Bankman-Fried is currently under house arrest at her parents’ California home until her trial date, which is set for October 2, 2023.