Anthropic Taps Google Chip Veteran for In-House Hardware Push

Anthropic PBC has made a significant move in its push into hardware by hiring Amir Salek, a veteran of Alphabet Inc's Google. Salek will join Anthropic's compute team as part of his new role at the AI lab.

Salek previously ran Google's tensor processing unit business until 2022 and delivered the first seven generations of those chips. He has also held positions at Nvidia Corp and Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm co-founded by Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg.

Anthropic is laying the groundwork for an in-house silicon business after announcing its intentions to build one recently. The San Francisco-based company has been hiring and listing jobs for the effort.

The move into hardware comes as other AI giants like OpenAI scramble to get enough data center infrastructure to support their ambitions. Custom chips would potentially help Anthropic cope with supply shortages and tailor designs to better meet its needs.