Anthropic joins the AI rush into Formula 1

Driving the news: Anthropic's large language model, Claude, will serve as the team's "Official Thinking Partner" — meaning the brand will not only be plastered across the team's drivers and cars, but Claude will also be integrated across the Williams organization for its internal use.

• The branding will be revealed on Feb. 3, ahead of the season opener in Melbourne, according to Anthropic.

Yes, but: Anthropic is not the first to make an F1 play.

• Oracle has teamed up with Red Bull Racing since 2021, while Google is the official partner of McLaren's F1 team and has integrated Gemini into its operations.
• IBM locked in a partnership with Scuderia Ferrari, Perplexity signed driver Lewis Hamilton as a brand ambassador and Microsoft recently announced a multiyear deal with Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.
• Meanwhile, Apple secured a deal as the exclusive U.S. broadcast partner for F1 through 2030.

What they're saying: "We chose Williams because they're one of F1's last truly independent teams — they compete on the quality of their thinking and their attention to detail," said Andrew Stirk, head of brand marketing at Anthropic.

• "They are world class problem solvers, focused on the smallest details, that's the same drive that animates Anthropic. It's why this partnership felt right from the first conversation," he added.

What to watch: The AI brand pitch will likely continue into next week's Super Bowl.

• In recent years, we've seen Microsoft, Google and Anthropic drop big bucks on ads during the game that sought to showcase how AI tools can help people in their everyday lives.
• Expect to see more of this, plus branding meant to differentiate these AI tools from one another.

More on Axios:

• Apple and F1 strike five-year U.S. media rights deal