OpenAI has signed a $38bn (£29bn) contract with Amazon to access its cloud computing infrastructure, as the start-up continues its run of major partnerships to secure computing power.
In 2025, the ChatGPT maker has signed deals worth more than $1tn with Oracle, Broadcom, AMD and chip-making giant Nvidia. Its latest deal reduces its reliance on Microsoft.
As part of the seven-year agreement, OpenAI will gain access to Nvidia graphics processors to train its artificial intelligence models.
The deal follows a sweeping restructure of OpenAI last week which saw it convert away from being a non-profit and changed its relationship with Microsoft to give OpenAI more operational and financial freedom.
“Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” said OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman.
“Our partnership with AWS [Amazon Web Services] strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”
The deal reflects the massive demand for computer power coming from the growing interest in AI – and OpenAI’s rush to secure the power it needs.
OpenAI, which brought AI into the consumer mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, had been reliant on Microsoft for computing power for years. The two firms had an exclusive cloud agreement until January of this year, when their relationship loosened.
The AI start-up’s first agreement with Amazon’s AWS marks its latest shift away from Microsoft toward diversified sources of computing power.
“The deal with AWS shows that OpenAI considers that its path to leadership is paved with getting access to as much computing power as it can get its hands on,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
Microsoft “taking less of a control stake in the company has allowed relationships with near competitors to OpenAI’s funders possible,” she added.
But OpenAI has been unprofitable, as spends big to get ahead in the development of AI technology. Quarterly results from Microsoft last week indicated that OpenAI lost $12bn in just the last quarter.
Following the announcement of the deal on Monday, Amazon shares hit an all-time high, adding $140bn (£106bn) to its valuation.
AWS is “uniquely positioned to support OpenAI’s vast AI workloads,” Matt Garman, CEO of AWS, said in a statement.
Leading AI firms have been investing in one another, creating a tangled web of deals that has been drawing scrutiny. OpenAI is at the centre of that web.
In response to OpenAI’s deal spree, there has been some speculation that an AI bubble may be in the offing.
Speaking to the BBC last month, Sam Altman said: “Yes, the investment loans are unprecedented”, but added: “It’s also unprecedented for companies to be growing revenue this fast.”
Warnings have come from the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund, as well as from JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon, who told the BBC that “the level of uncertainty should be higher in most people’s minds”.
By BBC News
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