Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest as much as $50 billion in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
The sum would make the e-commerce giant the largest contributor to the artificial intelligence startup’s current fundraising round, which aims to raise up to $100 billion and could value the company at around $830 billion.
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy is leading discussions with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, the Wall Street Journal reported, with Reuters adding that talks remain at an early stage and the final investment amount has not been finalised.
The potential deal would mark a significant expansion of the relationship between the two companies. OpenAI signed a $38 billion computing services agreement with Amazon Web Services in November, diversifying beyond its longstanding reliance on Microsoft for computational infrastructure.
SoftBank Group is separately in talks to invest up to an additional $30 billion in OpenAI as part of the same fundraising round, building on the Japanese conglomerate’s existing stake in the startup. OpenAI’s current investors include Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures and MGX, the United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund.
The fundraising efforts come as OpenAI prepares the groundwork for a potential initial public offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion, Reuters has reported. The company earlier this month signed a $10 billion computing agreement with Nvidia competitor Cerebras.
Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon are all in discussions to invest a combined $60 billion in OpenAI, the Information reported. Nvidia is considering an investment of up to $30 billion, whilst Microsoft is exploring a contribution of less than $10 billion.
Amazon’s potential investment in OpenAI creates an unusual dynamic given the company’s substantial commitment to Anthropic, OpenAI’s primary competitor. Amazon has invested approximately $8 billion in Anthropic, which was recently valued at $183 billion and has gained significant traction amongst enterprise customers.
The OpenAI rival expects to more than double its annualised revenue rate in 2026 to around $26 billion, Reuters noted. The company recently opened an $11 billion data centre campus in Indiana dedicated exclusively to running Anthropic models.
