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Anthropic, a San Francisco startup often cast as an independent player in the AI race, has deeper ties<\/a> to Google than previously known. Court documents recently obtained by The New York Times reveal that Google owns a 14% stake in the company and is set to pour another $750 million into it this year through a convertible debt deal. In total, Google\u2019s investment in Anthropic now exceeds $3 billion.<\/p>\n Despite having no voting rights, board seats, or direct control over the company, Google\u2019s backing raises questions about how independent Anthropic really is. As AI startups increasingly rely on funding from tech giants, regulators have scrutinized whether these deals give incumbents an unfair advantage, though the Justice Department just dropped a proposal<\/a> that would have forced the sale of some of those stakes.<\/p>\n Google, which is developing its own tech while quietly funding competitors, is clearly hedging its bets. Meanwhile, with Amazon also funneling money into Anthropic \u2014 it has agreed to invest up to $8 billion<\/a> so far in the outfit \u2014 it\u2019s natural to wonder what such ties mean for Anthropic and other big AI startups. Are they still mavericks or becoming extensions of Big Tech?<\/p>\n