Amazon may Invest $50 Billion in OpenAI

According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI, with a market value of $500 billion, is seeking a new round of investment totaling up to $100 billion, which could push its valuation to an astonishing $830 billion. The report noted that Amazon may contribute at least $50 billion to this record-breaking financing.

The specific details of this potential deal remain unclear at the moment, but The Wall Street Journal noted that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is personally leading negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. TechCrunch has reached out to both Amazon and OpenAI for comment.

It is reported that OpenAI is also in discussions with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East to raise additional funds. The New York Times noted that the startup has held further talks with Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank. The financing deal is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter.

If Amazon collaborates with OpenAI, it will be particularly noteworthy, as it involves Amazon’s close ties with OpenAI’s competitor Anthropic. Amazon’s AWS serves as Anthropic’s primary cloud service and model training provider, and Amazon has invested at least $8 billion in Anthropic. Additionally, Amazon recently opened an $11 billion data center campus in Indiana specifically for running Anthropic’s models.