Amazon in Early Talks To Make $10 Billion-Plus Bet on OpenAI

OpenAI is in talks with Amazon over a potential investment that could exceed $10 billion, alongside discussions to use the e-commerce giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Bloomberg reported, citing people aware of the discussions.

OpenAI’s discussions with Amazon are at an early stage and could still evolve, but any agreement would rank among the largest investments the AI company has secured since Microsoft first backed it in 2019.

The talks come after OpenAI restructured its corporate arrangements in October, a move that clarified the boundaries of its long-standing partnership with Microsoft and broadened its ability to raise capital and work with other technology firms. 

Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, but no longer holds a right of first refusal to act as the company’s exclusive provider of computing capacity, allowing OpenAI to pursue select partnerships with third parties.

Amazon’s interest would add to its expanding exposure to generative AI. The company has already committed at least $8 billion to Anthropic, one of OpenAI’s leading rivals, and has positioned its cloud unit as a key infrastructure supplier to AI developers. 

Other large technology groups have taken similar steps: Microsoft last month said it would invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, while Nvidia has pledged as much as $10 billion to the startup.

The discussions also highlight the growing role of specialized hardware in AI development. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been developing its own AI chips for nearly a decade, beginning with Inferentia in 2018 and most recently unveiling a new generation of its Trainium processors, designed to handle large-scale AI training and inference workloads.

OpenAI has made infrastructure commitments totaling more than $1.4 trillion in recent months, securing capacity and supply agreements with chipmakers including Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom. 

In November, the company signed a $38 billion agreement to buy cloud computing capacity from AWS, marking its first major contract with the world’s largest cloud provider.

The company has also deepened relationships with other infrastructure partners. This year, firms such as Nvidia and Oracle have signed multibillion dollar AI-related agreements with OpenAI as demand for advanced computing power continues to surge.

In October, OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion secondary share sale, allowing current and former employees to sell stock at a valuation of about $500 billion. 

The company is also laying the groundwork for a possible initial public offering that could value it at up to $1 trillion, Reuters reported earlier.

Any investment by Amazon would come as investors increasingly question whether the scale of spending on AI infrastructure will deliver sustainable returns. While demand for generative AI systems remains strong, some market participants are watching closely for signs of slowing growth or overcapacity.