SAN FRANCISCO, April 25 -- Google is planning to invest up to US$40 billion (RM160 billion) in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm confirmed yesterday, expanding a long-standing alliance between the two companies.

The investment builds on a partnership in which Anthropic will use custom Google chips and cloud computing services to power its technology.

An Anthropic representative confirmed to AFP that the agreement sees an initial US$10 billion investment from Google. The remaining US$30 billion will depend on meeting performance milestones.

The announcement came just days after Amazon revealed plans to boost its collaboration with Anthropic with a new US$5 billion investment, and a plan to invest US$20 billion more if performa...