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(Amazon AWS)

Amazon to invest up to $25 billion more in Anthropic; Claude developer to spend more than $100 billion on AWS AI technology

This is the latest edition of a frenetic dash for AI compute to power Claude, which is undergoing some problems of success.

Luke Kawa

Anthropic is continuing its scramble to accumulate more computing power, and Amazon is only too happy to oblige.

As part of an expanded pact, the e-commerce and cloud giant is poised to invest an additional $5 billion in the Claude developer now and up to $20 billion more in the future.

Anthropic, for its part, aims to spend more than $100 billion on Amazon Web Services tech over the next decade. That totals 5 gigawatts of computing capacity, some of which is expected to come online this year. The outlays are said to include multiple generations of the Trainium chips and Gravitron CPUs.

AWS has been Anthropic’s primary cloud provider and an investor in the AI startup turned private juggernaut since 2023. Before this news, Amazon held an $8 billion stake in Anthropic. CNBC reports that the initial investment comes at the $380 billion valuation from its Series G round that closed in February; per Business Insider, its valuation may have effectively more than doubled since then.

This is the latest edition of a frenetic dash for AI compute to fuel Claude, which is undergoing some problems of success. As its tools have become increasingly popular (and, allegedly, disturbingly powerful), users have bemoaned use limits and stealth token rationing in recent weeks, with rival OpenAI saying that its competitive advantage is access to compute.

Anthropic’s computing crunch has helped rejuvenate the AI trade in recent weeks by testifying to downstream end user demand. In other words, the cacophony of complaints about Claude access is being viewed as evidence that the appetite for compute has meaningful breadth across businesses and isn’t just an arms race among hyperscalers.

In April alone, Anthropic reached an AI compute deal with CoreWeave and boosted its agreements with Google and Broadcom.

“Our users tell us Claude is increasingly essential to how they work, and we need to build the infrastructure to keep pace with rapidly growing demand,” Anthropic CEO and cofounder Dario Amodei said in the press release.

For Amazon, this marks an acceleration in its custom chip business (a subset of the AI trade that seems to be going from strength to strength as of late).

Earlier this month, CEO Andy Jassy also said its custom chip business was “on fire” and had exceeded a $20 billion annual revenue run rate, doubling from the $10 billion reported earlier this year.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

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US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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