Anthropic Hires Google TPU Pioneer to Build Custom AI Chips

Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has hired Amir Salek, a foundational leader of Google's Tensor Processing Unit project, to spearhead its expansion into custom semiconductor development. Confirming the appointment, Anthropic stated that Salek will join its internal compute team and report directly to Head of Compute James Bradbury. Salek previously spent eight years founding and leading Nvidia's system-on-a-chip business before directing custom silicon infrastructure for Google Cloud. The strategic hire underscores the company's ambition to mitigate supply chain bottlenecks, reduce external hardware dependency, and optimize silicon architecture specifically for its Claude models. Industry reports indicate Anthropic has engaged Samsung Electronics regarding advanced 2-nanometer manufacturing processes. The initiative mirrors rival OpenAI's custom hardware push alongside Broadcom. While pursuing proprietary silicon, Anthropic continues maintaining large-scale procurement agreements with major cloud providers as it prepares for an initial public offering.