SAN FRANCISCO: Claude developer Anthropic recently explored acquiring artificial-intelligence chip startup MatX for roughly $7 billion, as the AI company looks to accelerate development of its own custom processors. However, the latest update indicates that the acquisition talks are no longer active and have shifted toward discussions about a possible partnership, according to Reuters.
$7 Billion Acquisition Talks Shift to Partnership
Two people briefed on the discussions told Reuters that Anthropic had considered purchasing MatX as part of its increasingly ambitious effort to develop proprietary AI hardware.
A third source said those merger discussions have since evolved into talks about a potential partnership. Reuters could not determine why Anthropic abandoned the proposed acquisition. Anthropic declined to comment on the negotiations, while MatX did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The distinction is important: Anthropic has not agreed to acquire MatX for $7 billion. The latest reporting indicates that the takeover was considered but is no longer being pursued in its previous form.
Why MatX Matters to Anthropic
MatX is particularly attractive because of its semiconductor expertise. The startup was founded by former Google Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) engineers, giving it experience directly relevant to designing specialized processors for large-scale AI workloads.
According to Reuters, MatX is now seeking fresh capital at a valuation of approximately $4 billion.
For Anthropic, acquiring—or partnering with—a specialized chip developer could shorten the time required to build processors optimized specifically for training and running Claude models.
Anthropic Accelerates Custom AI Chip Push
The MatX discussions are part of a much broader hardware strategy.
Anthropic has been expanding its internal silicon expertise and recently recruited Amir Salek, who helped establish Google’s custom-chip program and worked on multiple generations of Google’s TPUs.
Reuters reports that Anthropic has also met with several semiconductor startups while evaluating potential designs for both AI training and inference chips.
Developing proprietary processors could eventually allow Anthropic to optimize hardware around Claude’s specific workloads instead of relying entirely on general-purpose AI infrastructure.
AI Companies Race to Reduce Nvidia Dependence
The strategy reflects a broader shift across the artificial-intelligence industry.
Demand for advanced GPUs remains enormous, while the cost of training and operating frontier AI systems continues to climb. Building custom silicon gives AI companies another route to increase computing capacity, improve efficiency and potentially lower long-term infrastructure costs.
It could also reduce dependence on Nvidia, although Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has argued that companies developing proprietary processors will remain customers because Nvidia offers a broader computing platform rather than chips alone.
Anthropic’s Computing Commitments Keep Growing
Anthropic is simultaneously securing huge amounts of third-party computing infrastructure.
Reuters has previously reported that AMD is expected to supply Anthropic with tens of billions of dollars worth of AI servers, while investing as much as $5 billion in the company.
That suggests Anthropic’s custom-chip strategy is unlikely to immediately replace outside suppliers. Instead, the company appears to be pursuing a diversified approach—securing enormous amounts of existing computing capacity while simultaneously developing technology that could give it greater control over future infrastructure.
IPO Plans Add to Anthropic’s Expansion
The hardware push comes as Anthropic prepares for another potentially transformative step.
The company is reportedly preparing to publicly unveil its IPO prospectus shortly after Labor Day, with a possible stock-market debut in late September or early October.
Separately, Anthropic is expected to tell potential investors that it sees its total addressable market eventually exceeding $30 trillion, illustrating the scale of opportunity the company believes could emerge around artificial intelligence.
For now, the proposed $7 billion MatX acquisition appears to be off the table, but the negotiations provide another strong signal that Anthropic intends to become more deeply involved in the hardware underpinning Claude.
A partnership with MatX could still help accelerate that strategy—without requiring Anthropic to complete one of the largest AI-chip startup acquisitions to date.
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