Amazon is reportedly shifting from paying Anthropic based on computing hours to a token-based pricing model beginning next year, according to The Information.
- AMZN shares gained nearly 6% over the last two days and inched higher overnight into Monday.
- Amazon is reportedly weighing the use of OpenAI’s models and its own Nova models to cut costs after Anthropic raised prices for using its models in Amazon products.
- Shoppers spent $26.4 billion, or 9.3% higher than last year, in Amazon’s three-day Prime Day sale, which ended last Friday.
Amazon.com, Inc. shares rose 3.2% on Monday and inched marginally higher in overnight trading, suggesting fresh momentum following its Prime Day sale, which concluded last week.
In a new development, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Amazon has restructured its deal with AI startup Anthropic, shifting from paying for its AI models based on computing hours to a token-based pricing model beginning next year.
The report said the change could increase Amazon’s costs for using Anthropic’s AI models, including Claude. Amazon disputed that claim and told Investing.com that “Amazon and Anthropic share a multifaceted partnership grounded in technical collaboration, and we continue to foster that relationship and deepen our work together,” and that it was “incorrect that changes from our expanded collaboration will increase our costs.”
The report added that Amazon was weighing the use of OpenAI’s and its own Nova models to cut costs after Anthropic raised prices for using its models in Amazon products.
Amazon is one of the major early backers of Anthropic, having invested $4 billion in 2023. Earlier this year, Amazon agreed to invest up to an additional $25 billion in Anthropic. Meanwhile, it inked a major deal with OpenAI to also have its models offered to customers on Amazon Web Services.
How Did Prime Day Fare?
Amazon hosted its Prime Day sale event from June 23 through June 26. Shoppers spent $26.4 billion, or 9.3% higher than their spend at last year’s event, despite a challenging inflationary environment, according to Adobe Analytics.
Adobe said that strong discounts during the four-day Prime event drove many shoppers to purchase higher-priced items, including electronics, toys, appliances and personal care products, meaning that retailers may have to continue offering deep discounts to get their products off the shelves for the holiday season.
Anthropic IPO Watch
The development comes as investors are watching ahead of Anthropic’s mega initial public offering, which is expected to be among the largest in corporate history.
Anthropic, currently valued at $1.07 trillion as per Nasdaq Private Market, confidentially filed paperwork for the offering earlier this month, with OpenAI following suit a week later.
However, The New York Times reported last week that the Sam Altman-led AI company might delay its IPO to 2027, from the earlier expectation that it would arrive sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.
Retail investors, meanwhile, are snapping up exposure to Anthropic and OpenAI by buying into funds such as KraneShares Public-Private AI & Technology ETF (AGIX), Fundrise Innovation Fund (VCX), Destiny Tech100 (DXYZ), and those run by ARK Investment Management.
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment was ‘bearish’ for both Anthropic and OpenAI late Monday. The sentiment was ‘bullish’ for AMZN. Amazon shares are down 14% from their May 5 peak but remain 4% higher year to date.
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