Anthropic Lands $15B from Microsoft & Nvidia; Signs Away $30B for Cloud Computing

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Microsoft and Nvidia just poured a fortune into Anthropic, securing a massive Azure commitment that threatens to crush the competition.

Microsoft and Nvidia have announced a massive $15 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic, a move that propels the Claude maker’s valuation to a staggering $350 billion.

The deal establishes a deep financial loop between the companies: as part of the agreement, Anthropic has contractually committed to paying $30 billion back to Microsoft for cloud computing services, effectively locking in Azure as its primary infrastructure provider for the foreseeable future.

The Deal Breakdown: Cash In vs. Cash Out

To understand the magnitude of this partnership, one must look at the money moving in opposite directions.

• The Injection ($15 Billion): Microsoft and Nvidia are acting as financiers. Nvidia is investing up to $10 billion, and Microsoft is putting in up to $5 billion. This fresh capital propels Anthropic’s valuation to a staggering $350 billion.
• The Obligation ($30 Billion): Anthropic isn't just pocketing the cash. It has signed a binding commitment to spend $30 billion on Microsoft Azure over the coming years.

Microsoft is effectively financing its own customers. By investing $5 billion today, they have secured a guaranteed $30 billion revenue stream for their Azure cloud business in the future.

Strategic Shift: Microsoft Hedges Its Bets

For years, Microsoft’s AI ambitions were tied almost exclusively to OpenAI. Today’s deal marks a definitive pivot. By backing Anthropic, OpenAI's primary rival, Microsoft is diversifying its portfolio.

"We're increasingly going to be customers of each other. We will use Anthropic models, they will use our infrastructure, and we'll go to market together," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

The deal ensures that Anthropic’s powerful new models, including Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Opus 4.1, will be available to enterprise customers on Azure. This positions Microsoft’s cloud as the neutral ground of AI, hosting the very best models from both competitors (OpenAI and Anthropic) under one roof.

The $30 billion Anthropic is spending will go toward renting one of the most powerful computing grids on earth. The partnership grants Anthropic access to one gigawatt of compute power, a colossal amount of energy, and processing capability.

Crucially, this infrastructure will be powered by Nvidia’s unreleased next-generation Vera Rubin systems, alongside the current Grace Blackwell chips. For Nvidia, this is a strategic coup: they are investing cash to ensure a massive, guaranteed buyer for their most advanced and expensive silicon.

The New Big Tech Ecosystem

This agreement solidifies a trend where the biggest winners in AI are the infrastructure providers. While Anthropic gains the war chest needed to compete with Google and OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia have successfully locked in a long-term dependency.

As Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, noted in a joint video statement, this represents the chipmaker’s ‘first deep partnership’ with Anthropic, signaling that the hardware giant is no longer just a supplier, but a kingmaker in the software wars.