Amazon is reportedly in advanced negotiations to invest at least $50 billion in OpenAI, a move that would account for half of the AI company’s targeted $100 billion funding round. According to The Wall Street Journal, talks are being led directly by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. If completed, this capital injection could propel OpenAI’s valuation to a colossal $830 billion, further cementing its dominance in the generative AI landscape.
The potential deal strikes a surprising tone given Amazon’s deep existing commitment to OpenAI rival Anthropic. Amazon has already invested over $8 billion in Anthropic and serves as its primary cloud provider, recently launching an $11 billion data center campus in Indiana dedicated exclusively to Anthropic’s models. OpenAI is reportedly filling out the rest of this record-breaking round through discussions with sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, as well as tech giants Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank, with the deal expected to close by the end of the first quarter.
