Sparkle, the Tim group company specialized in submarine telecommunications cables, has signed a resale agreement with the US artificial intelligence startup Anthropic. The agreement will allow Sparkle to offer the Claude family language models through Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Web Services’ cloud computing platform for developing generative artificial intelligence applications.
WHAT THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SPARKLE AND ANTHROPIC ENTAILS
Sparkle has stated its intention to offer Anthropic’s models to “institutions and businesses throughout Europe,” enabling them to integrate the Amazon Bedrock platform into their IT ecosystems in order to “develop intelligent assistants, automate document analysis, improve customer interactions, support software development, and optimize operational workflows.”
Sparkle’s offering is not limited to providing the language model but integrates with other connectivity services such as Sd-Wan solutions (for centralized network management), Cloud Connect (for private connections to public clouds), and Quantum Safe Interconnect (for securing digital infrastructures against potential future threats posed by quantum computing).
SPARKLE’S GOAL
Annalisa Bonatti, vice president of Sparkle’s Enterprise division, explained that integrating Claude models into the company portfolio will allow Sparkle to expand its “capability to support customers with end-to-end digital infrastructures, from global connectivity to cloud and advanced artificial intelligence services.”
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ANTHROPIC IN THE UNITED STATES
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI employees, including siblings Dario Amodei (CEO) and Daniela Amodei (Chair). Among the startup’s major investors are Google, which has invested over 3 billion dollars, and Amazon, with a commitment of about 8 billion. The Claude model is integrated into various Amazon products, such as the Alexa+ voice assistant and the Prime Video streaming service.
To try to distinguish itself from the competition, Anthropic has focused on user data protection and the development of “ethical” systems, meaning those not harmful to society. On this topic, for about a month there has been a political and legal clash in the United States between Anthropic and the Department of Defense (also known as the Pentagon) regarding the use of the startup’s technologies for military purposes. The US government wants to use the Claude model without restrictions, but Anthropic refuses to allow its use for mass surveillance or lethal military actions. Consequently, following Anthropic’s refusal to remove operational constraints, the Pentagon classified it as a “supply chain risk,” a designation that risks excluding it from public contracts. In response, Anthropic has sued the US government, arguing that the measure is retaliation for its ethical stance.
SPARKLE’S INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Sparkle’s choice to rely on the Bedrock platform is not accidental but reflects both the integration of Claude into Amazon’s technological offering, as noted, and the partnership between the Tim group company and Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division of the Seattle-based tech company.
The agreement with Anthropic also fits into a strategy to strengthen Sparkle’s international presence. Its fiber optic network extends over 600,000 kilometers across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas and rests on three key infrastructures: Seabone, the global Tier-1 IP transit backbone; the Blue & Raman cable system to India, developed in collaboration with Google; the GreenMed cable in the Adriatic Sea, connecting Italy with Eastern Mediterranean countries.
These physical telecommunications infrastructures are the necessary foundation for using the cloud computing and artificial intelligence services offered in collaboration with Amazon and Anthropic.
