Amazon.com is in negotiations for its second multi-billion dollar investment in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, according to the Information.
TakeAway Points:
- Amazon.com is in talks for its second multi-billion dollar investment in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, the Information reported on Thursday.
- LG Energy Solution said that it had entered into a battery supply arrangement with Rivian, a U.S.-based automaker.
- Shares of Qualcomm increased 4% on Thursday as investor optimism about a China-led smartphone market rebound was bolstered by the chip designer’s impressive quarterly revenue projection.
Amazon in talks with Anthropic
The cloud services giant announced an investment of $4 billion in the OpenAI rival in September last year, saying its customers would gain early access to Anthropic’s technology.
Amazon has asked Anthropic, which uses Amazon’s cloud services to train its AI model, to use a large number of servers powered by chips developed by the cloud computing major, the report said.
It added that the AI startup prefers to use Amazon servers powered by Nvidia-designed AI chips.
Anthropic, which was co-founded by former OpenAI executives and siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, last year said it had secured a $500 million investment from Google-parent Alphabet, which promised to invest another $1.5 billion over time.
LG Energy Solution signs 5-year battery supply deal with Rivian
South Korea’s LG Energy Solution on Friday said its subsidiary LG Energy Solution Arizona has signed a battery supply agreement with U.S.-based automotive manufacturer Rivian .
Under the agreement, LGES, which supplies Tesla, General Motors, and Hyundai Motor, will provide Rivian with its advanced 4695 cylindrical batteries for over five years, totalling 67 GWh, the company said in a statement.
The batteries will be manufactured at the company’s standalone battery plant in Arizona and will be used in Rivian’s R2 model for the North American market.
Automakers, such as Mercedes, are following Tesla’s lead in using bigger cylindrical cells in their electric vehicles to extend the driving range and use fewer cells to achieve the same battery pack capacity.
Qualcomm advances in smartphone market
Qualcomm shares rose 4% on Thursday after the chip designer’s strong quarterly revenue forecast fanned investor optimism about a China-led recovery in the smartphone market.
The company, the biggest supplier of smartphone chips, will add around $8 billion to its market value if the gains hold.
It forecast both first-quarter sales and adjusted profit above market estimates on Wednesday, signalling the smartphone market was picking up after a tough 2023 as consumers upgrade devices for AI apps such as chatbots and image generators.
Demand has been especially positive in major market China, from which Qualcomm gets nearly half its revenue, thanks to new smartphone launches by brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
“This was a nice sign that the consumer was willing to spend on high-end cell phones,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group.
“Improvement in the Chinese market played a big role. Can that continue is the big question for investors.”
Qualcomm is trying to diversify its revenue as it braces for the end of a lucrative tie-up with Apple, which is working on its own modem chips to replace those made by Qualcomm.
While the deal to keep selling chips to Apple is until at least 2026, focus is on whether Qualcomm’s efforts to break into laptops and artificial intelligence in data centers will ramp up quickly enough to offset declines in Apple revenue.
“Qualcomm is starting to enjoy additional revenue from the other markets it is focusing on, including automotive, the internet of things, headsets, and PCs,” said Bob O’Donnell, chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research.
Trariff plans
President-elect Donald Trump has floated plans for blanket tariffs of 10% to 20% on virtually all imports as well as tariffs of 60% or more on goods from China, in a bid to boost U.S. manufacturing.
“Higher tariffs, if they are applied to chips from Taiwan, which I would be very surprised if they happen … that would be an incentive for Qualcomm to move manufacturing stateside,” said O’Donnell.
