The second hardware hire on OpenAI's custom chip team, Clive Chan, has left for rival Anthropic.

OpenAI is co-developing an AI chip with Broadcom, with Chan repeating an October blog post that said the semiconductor is planned for the second half of 2026.

"I’m proud to have been part of the custom chip program and grateful to everyone I got to build with and learn from along the way," Chan said in an X post.

"The density of hardware talent on that team is extraordinary, and I don't think there's a better chip design team anywhere. It's been a wild journey from second hardware hire, 2.4 years ago, to now, and I'm excited to watch these chips become one of the most important engines of AGI."

He added: "At the same time, I haven’t been able to shake the pull to climb a new mountain from the bottom again!

"I joined Anthropic this week because I was deeply impressed with the team’s talent, values, and ambition, and I'm already energized by the pace and intensity of the past few days. It’s time to build."

Anthropic uses a large number of chips, including Nvidia GPUs, Google TPUs, and Amazon Trainium hardware. It has yet to announce any plans to develop its own hardware, but Reuters in April reported that the company was considering developing its own chips.