Amazon is plunking another $4 billion into AI startup Anthropic, deepening its ties with the OpenAI rival.

Why it matters: The deal highlights the high-stakes battle among Big Tech rivals to secure their spot in the fast-moving artificial intelligence race.

Catch up quick: This is Amazon's third investment in Anthropic in the past 14 months, bringing its total investment to $8 billion.

• Anthropic, like OpenAI, is racing to develop the kinds of generative AI technologies currently being used for powering chatbots, among other services.

The big picture: This is just the latest deal between a tech giant and an AI startup where Big Tech can offer not only huge sums of money for development but also cloud services crucial for AI startups to scale their technologies.

• That's big for Amazon. Today's deal not only increases its minority stake in a promising AI startup, but it establishes Amazon's cloud business, AWS, as Anthropic's "primary cloud and training partner," the companies said in a statement.
• This will further juice Amazon's data center business and its effort to build its own AI chips.

The intrigue: The agreement to use AWS' AI chips was a key driver of Amazon's initial investment in Anthropic last year.

• Amazon, like Google, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla, are investing huge sums to design their own chips to lessen their reliance on — and eventually compete with — Nvidia, which is printing money off the entire industry's insatiable appetite for GPUs.

Zoom out: Amazon is doubling down on its horse.

• Microsoft, meanwhile, has bet hard on OpenAI, investing close to $14 billion.
• Google also invested $2 billion in Anthropic last year, but it has focused mostly on its own AI development.

What we're watching: U.S. regulators have been keeping an eye on these deals, looking at whether these multibillion-dollar investments are allowing Big Tech to command too much of the AI market.

🎬 Universal's "Wicked" and Paramount's "Gladiator II" are expected to pull in more than $200 million in combined ticket sales this weekend. (CNBC)

🪙 Bitcoin is ticking closer to $100,000. (AP)

Super Micro Computer shares continued their long climb back from the brink today, finishing the week up 78% from where they closed last Friday.

Why it matters: The recently high-flying server maker for the AI elite seems to have staved off a Nasdaq delisting, but it has more work to win back investors.

Catch up quick: Super Micro's problems started in August, when a short seller made a series of allegations, including one about shady accounting.

• The company then delayed its financial reports, which triggered the possible Nasdaq delisting.
• And that all triggered a probe by the DOJ.

Things got really bad last month when EY, the auditor hired to back the company's financial reports, quit, saying it was "unwilling to be associated" with them. The stock fell over 32% that day.

State of play: Super Micro on Monday announced it had a new independent auditor, BDO, and that it was on track to submit delayed filings to the SEC — allaying most fears about a delisting.

• Shares closed today at $33.15, capping off a good recovery. But that's still a far cry from the $118 they traded at in March.

Kendrick Lamar released a new album today, which apparently nobody saw coming.

• Promotion for the new album, "GNX," reportedly consisted of a teaser video by the rapper... posted today.

Zoom in: "GNX" is 12 tracks, and it's Lamar's first full-length studio album since 2022, USA Today notes.

What we're watching: Lamar, best known for "Not Like Us," "HUMBLE." and "All The Stars," will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.