Amazon in talks to invest $50 billion in OpenAI

OpenAI, already valued at $500 billion, has announced that it is seeking another $100 billion in funding. This new round could boost the company’s valuation to an impressive $830 billion. The Wall Street Journal now reports that Amazon might contribute at least $50 billion of that record-breaking investment.

Details about the potential deal are scarce, but the Journal mentions that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is currently leading negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. TechCrunch has contacted Amazon and OpenAI for comment.

In its quest for additional funding, OpenAI has reportedly been in discussions with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East. The New York Times also reports that the startup has held further talks with Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

This potential collaboration between Amazon and OpenAI is noteworthy, especially given Amazon’s significant relationship with Anthropic, a direct competitor of OpenAI. Amazon Web Services (AWS) serves as Anthropic’s primary cloud and training provider, and the company has invested at least $8 billion in AWS.

Furthermore, the multinational tech company recently inaugurated an $11 billion data center campus in Indiana that is exclusively dedicated to running Anthropic’s models.