OpenAI is in discussions with Amazon over a potential investment and an agreement to use the company’s artificial intelligence chips, CNBC confirmed on Tuesday.
The details remain fluid and subject to change, but the investment could exceed $10 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential. The Information first reported on the potential deal.
The discussions follow OpenAI’s restructuring in October, when the company formally outlined updated terms of its partnership with Microsoft, giving OpenAI greater flexibility to raise capital and collaborate with companies across the broader AI ecosystem.
Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and has backed the company since 2019. However, under the revised arrangement, Microsoft no longer holds a right of first refusal to serve as OpenAI’s exclusive compute provider. OpenAI is also now able to develop some products with third-party partners.
Amazon has invested at least $8 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic, but the company appears to be seeking to expand its exposure to the rapidly growing generative AI market. Microsoft has taken a similar approach, announcing last month that it will invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, while Nvidia plans to invest up to $10 billion in the startup.
Amazon Web Services has been developing its own AI chips since about 2015, as specialized hardware has become increasingly critical for training large models and meeting rising demand for computing power. AWS introduced its Inferentia chips in 2018 and unveiled the latest generation of its Trainium chips earlier this month.
OpenAI has made more than $1.4 trillion in infrastructure commitments in recent months, including agreements with chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom. Last month, OpenAI also signed a deal to purchase $38 billion worth of capacity from AWS, marking its first contract with the cloud infrastructure provider.
In October, OpenAI completed a secondary share sale totaling $6.6 billion, allowing current and former employees to sell stock at a valuation of $500 billion.
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