Archive · 23 Aug 2026
Anthropic Hires Google Chip Veteran for In-House Semiconductor Push
Anthropic makes Claude, an artificial-intelligence platform that needs many powerful computer chips.
The company hired Amir Salek, a former Google chip executive, to help its computing team.
Salek helped create Google’s special tensor processing units.
Anthropic is considering making some of its own chips instead of buying all of them.
Custom chips could help Anthropic get enough computing power and design chips for its specific needs.
The company is also signing agreements for chips and data-center space.
One reported agreement with Fractile is initially worth about $250 million.
OpenAI is pursuing a similar hardware strategy with Broadcom.
These moves show that AI companies are competing to secure the equipment needed to build and run their systems.
Anthropic hired Amir Salek, who helped found Google’s custom chip program.
Salek delivered the first seven generations of Google’s tensor processing units and will join Anthropic’s compute team.
Anthropic is hiring for an in-house silicon effort while buying chips from Nvidia, Google and Amazon.
The company is pursuing chip and data-center capacity agreements, including a reported $250 million Fractile order.
OpenAI is also developing custom hardware, including its Broadcom co-developed Jalapeno chip.
- Who
- Anthropic and Amir Salek, a former Google custom-chip executive.
- What
- Anthropic hired Salek as it prepares for a possible in-house semiconductor business.
- When
- The hiring was announced Friday; no specific date was provided.
- Where
- Anthropic is based in San Francisco, while Salek previously worked at Google.
- Why
- Custom chips could help Anthropic address supply shortages and tailor hardware to its computing needs.
- New hire
- Amir Salek joined Anthropic’s compute team and will report to James Bradbury.
- Previous role
- Salek ran Google’s tensor processing unit business until 2022 and delivered its first seven generations of chips.
- Anthropic hardware plan
- Anthropic has begun hiring and listing jobs for an in-house silicon effort.
- Current chip suppliers
- Anthropic buys chips from Nvidia, Google and Amazon, among other sources.
- Fractile agreement
- Anthropic has an initial chip order with Fractile worth roughly $250 million, according to Bloomberg News.
- Other capacity deals
- Anthropic recently signed data-center capacity agreements with Riot Platforms and Volta Infra Holdings.
- Industry comparison
- OpenAI has unveiled the Jalapeno chip, co-developed with Broadcom, and plans to begin using it later this year.