Anthropic has finalized a $10 billion computing agreement with a cloud startup that is just a week old.

      Anthropic has identified another source for purchasing computing power, this time partnering with a company that has just recently established its presence. The AI developer has entered into a six-year, $10 billion agreement with Volta, a newly launched cloud startup, as reported by Bloomberg.

      This contract marks Volta's flagship deal and adds yet another name to Anthropic's already extensive list of suppliers. Such agreements have become commonplace for a company with an insatiable demand for computing resources. Anthropic is now acquiring capacity from virtually all available avenues. Its principal investor, Amazon, has invested up to $25 billion into the company, providing a significant portion of its computing needs, which is just the beginning of a long list.

      The remainder includes major industry players. Anthropic secured its largest computing agreement to date with Google and Broadcom, reaching a run rate of $30 billion, and has relied heavily on Google’s TPUs. Meanwhile, AMD is committing $5 billion and deploying two gigawatts of GPUs for Claude, while CoreWeave, Akamai, and even SpaceX are among those providing additional compute resources.

      Volta is not the only $10 billion contract in the works either. Anthropic has also been discussing a similar computing deal with Meta, highlighting the number of suppliers required to support a single leading lab.

      What makes the deal with Volta particularly notable is the youth of the company involved. Anthropic is pledging $10 billion over six years to a startup that was founded this year, has a valuation of $2.4 billion, and has only just emerged from stealth mode.

      Volta's concept aims to make Nvidia's chips accessible to more than just large enterprises, with backing from Andreessen Horowitz, Altimeter, Nvidia, and Michael Dell. The startup intends to handle part of Anthropic's capacity through the bitcoin miner Bitdeer, beginning operations in Norway.

      For Volta, this agreement serves as both validation and stability. Having a $10 billion anchor client provides a fledgling startup with credibility and the cash flow needed for further growth.

      For Anthropic, distributing its computing demand across multiple suppliers acts as a safeguard. No single provider is capable of fulfilling its requirements, and relying too heavily on any one party, including its own investors, presents its own set of risks.

      Diversification also offers leverage; a lab that can move workloads among Amazon, Google, AMD, and now a startup is less dependent on any one source for pricing or prioritization.

      Anthropic has even considered developing its own chips, which seems a logical direction for a company that recognizes the critical importance of computing power.

      These arrangements raise concerns that have accompanied the entire AI surge. Chip manufacturers and cloud service providers are increasingly financing their customers, creating a connected network that could amplify losses if demand falls short.

      The overall scale is staggering. Anthropic's commitments to computing resources now amount to tens of billions of dollars, based on a belief that demand for Claude will continue to increase rapidly enough to justify such expenditures.

      The spending aligns with the company's performance. Anthropic has seen a significant rise in revenue as Claude attracts enterprise clients, enabling it to commit to agreements that could jeopardize smaller firms.

      However, committing $10 billion to a newly established company carries its own risks. Volta must still build and deliver on its promises, and Anthropic is effectively betting on the ability of this first-time operator to scale up in a way that established cloud providers find challenging.

      The deal also indicates a shift in the current bottleneck situation. Anthropic is pursuing not just chips but also the power and facilities necessary to operate them, which is precisely what a company like Volta, created by infrastructure financiers, aims to provide.

      For a company striving to keep Claude in the lead, the equation is straightforward. Capacity is the limiting factor, and Anthropic is willing to source it wherever possible, even from a startup that barely existed a year ago.