OpenAI has initiated discussions with Amazon regarding a potential capital infusion and the adoption of the tech giant's specialized AI hardware, CNBC confirmed Tuesday.
A confidential source indicated that while the framework remains tentative, the investment could exceed $10 billion. The Information originally broke the story on the developing alliance.
These talks follow an October reorganization at OpenAI that defined its Microsoft partnership boundaries, granting the startup greater latitude to court investors and collaborate across the AI ecosystem, according to CNBC.
Despite Microsoft's $13 billion support since 2019, an October release stated the software giant no longer possesses a right of first refusal for OpenAI's computing requirements. The report noted the firm may now co-develop products with third parties.
Amazon previously directed at least $8 billion toward Anthropic, yet CNBC suggests the retailer seeks further exposure to the generative AI sector. Microsoft similarly pledged up to $5 billion to Anthropic last month, joining Nvidia's $10 billion targeted investment.
AWS has engineered custom silicon since roughly 2015, providing essential hardware for model training. The provider introduced its Inferentia chips in 2018 and unveiled the newest Trainium processors earlier this month, the outlet reported.
Recent months saw OpenAI commit over $1.4 trillion to infrastructure, partnering with Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices, and Nvidia. CNBC noted the company also finalized a $38 billion chatapacity deal with AWS last month, its inaugural pact with the cloud leader.
During October, a secondary offering totaling $6.6 billion allowed OpenAI staff to divest shares at a $500 billion valuation, the report concluded.
