Google will invest $10 billion in Anthropic PBC, with another $30 billion potentially to follow, strengthening the relationship between two companies that are at once partners and rivals in the race to build artificial intelligence.

Google is planning to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence firm confirmed Friday, expanding a long-standing alliance between the two companies. An Anthropic representative confirmed to AFP that the agreement sees an initial $10 billion investment from Google.

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares climbed mid-day Friday, rising 1.2%, after Bloomberg reported that Google plans to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic.

At Google, leaders are anxious about falling behind in the race to offer AI coding tools, especially as rivals like Anthropic PBC offer more effective and popular tools to businesses, according to people familiar with the matter.

A new AI startup called Core Automation, founded by an ex-OpenAI researcher, is snatching top talent from Anthropic and Google DeepMind. On Tuesday, Core Automation wrote in its first X post that it is "building the world's most automated AI lab."

Google is reportedly building a strike team to create better AI coding models, challenging competitors like Claude Code.