Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced an expansion of its free credits program tailored for startups, aiming to cover the expenses associated with utilizing major AI models, including Anthropic, Meta, Mistral AI, and Cohere. This initiative, revealed in an interview with Reuters, underscores Amazon's strategic efforts to bolster the market share of its AI platform, Bedrock.

In a bid to attract burgeoning startup ventures, Amazon has broadened the scope of its cloud credits to encompass models from various providers. Howard Wright, AWS's vice president and global head of startups, expressed, "This is another gift that we're making back to the startup ecosystem, in exchange for what we hope is startups continue to choose AWS as their first stop." This move follows Amazon's recent $4 billion investment in Anthropic through convertible notes, solidifying Anthropic's reliance on AWS as its primary cloud provider and utilizing Trainium and Inferentia chips for model building and training.

The integration of Amazon's free credits into the revenue model of Anthropic signifies a crucial stride in ecosystem development. Wright emphasized the significance of this collaboration, indicating Amazon's commitment to fostering mutually beneficial relationships within the startup landscape.