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Sherwood Staff

“Snacks Mix”: What that massive data center investment really means for the AI business

Welcome to “Snacks Mix”! Nia Warfield and Sherwood’s Nate Becker run through the week’s market maze, from Netflix’s subscriber gains to Trump’s first major economic announcement.

  • The Story Everyone is Talking About: Netflix soars on some eye-popping subscriber numbers.

  • The Story Everyone SHOULD Be Talking About: Donald Trump announced plans for a $500 billion AI data center investment.

  • The Story Everyone WILL Be Talking About: TikTok’s future is still pretty murky, even after Trump stepped in.

Wanna get in touch? Let us know what you make of the show and what we should cover next: podcasts@sherwood.news

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“Snacks Mix” is a production of Sherwood News, made in collaboration with Roulette Productions. Jody Avirgan and Claire Bidigare-Curtis are the producers.

Sherwood Media’s Snacks podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not a recommendation, solicitation, or research report relating to any investment strategy, security, or digital asset.

Views presented on this podcast are those of the speakers (hosts and guests). There is no guarantee that any statements or opinions provided herein will prove to be correct. The speakers’ opinions belong to them and may differ from opinions of Sherwood Media and its affiliates.

Nothing contained herein should be construed as an endorsement of any advertisers or sponsors of this podcast by Sherwood Media.

Sherwood Media’s Snacks podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not a recommendation, solicitation, or research report relating to any investment strategy, security, or digital asset.

Views presented on this podcast are those of the speakers (hosts and guests). There is no guarantee that any statements or opinions provided herein will prove to be correct. The speakers’ opinions belong to them and may differ from opinions of Sherwood Media and its affiliates.

Nothing contained herein should be construed as an endorsement of any advertisers or sponsors of this podcast by Sherwood Media.

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Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind’s CEO and founder, was also an early Anthropic investor

A chess prodigy and an actual a knight of the realm in the UK, it’s perhaps no surprise that Demis Hassabis has made some strategic moves about his exposure to AI upside. According to people familiar with the matter, the influential AI architect became an angel investor in Anthropic, currently behind many of the leading AI models, per Arena AI leaderboards.

The Nobel Prize winner’s position in the Claude creator was previously undisclosed and, per the Financial Times, highlights Hassabis’ “growing influence across the AI industry.”

Google, which bought DeepMind, the company that Hassabis cofounded and heads to this day, for a reported ~$400 million in 2014, is also a key Anthropic investor. The tech giant reportedly plans to invest up to $40 billion in the AI company as part of the mutually beneficial relationship the pair have forged, with reports that Anthropic has committed to spending $200 billion in the other direction on Google’s cloud services over the next five years.

I’m playing all sides, so I always come out on top

In addition to his financial support for Anthropic, Hassabis has also invested in a range of AI startups launched by colleagues, such as Inflection AI, a company set up by DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman (who is now CEO of Microsoft AI), as well as efforts from other collaborators, like David Silver’s Ineffable Intelligence.

Hassabis also emerged as a recurring figure on the fringes of the recent Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial, cropping up repeatedly in testimonies and court documents and appearing to live, as The Verge put it, “rent-free” in Musk’s head.

Founded in 2021, Anthropic has recently raised funding at a reported $900 billion valuation, sending it soaring ahead of competitor OpenAI.

Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis emerges as early Anthropic investor

Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis emerges as early Anthropic investor

The Nobel Prize winner’s position in the Claude creator was previously undisclosed and, per the Financial Times, highlights Hassabis’ “growing influence across the AI industry.”

Google, which bought DeepMind, the company that Hassabis cofounded and heads to this day, for a reported ~$400 million in 2014, is also a key Anthropic investor. The tech giant reportedly plans to invest up to $40 billion in the AI company as part of the mutually beneficial relationship the pair have forged, with reports that Anthropic has committed to spending $200 billion in the other direction on Google’s cloud services over the next five years.

I’m playing all sides, so I always come out on top

In addition to his financial support for Anthropic, Hassabis has also invested in a range of AI startups launched by colleagues, such as Inflection AI, a company set up by DeepMind cofounder Mustafa Suleyman (who is now CEO of Microsoft AI), as well as efforts from other collaborators, like David Silver’s Ineffable Intelligence.

Hassabis also emerged as a recurring figure on the fringes of the recent Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial, cropping up repeatedly in testimonies and court documents and appearing to live, as The Verge put it, “rent-free” in Musk’s head.

Founded in 2021, Anthropic has recently raised funding at a reported $900 billion valuation, sending it soaring ahead of competitor OpenAI.

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