OpenAI strikes $38 billion cloud deal with Amazon to secure massive AI computing power

OpenAI has signed a multi-year, $38 billion agreement with Amazon to access AWS cloud services and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips. The deal strengthens OpenAI’s computing capacity through 2027 and signals a shift in its dependency away from Microsoft.

OpenAI has entered a landmark partnership with Amazon worth $38 billion, securing long-term access to Amazon Web Services’ cloud infrastructure and vast GPU resources to power its next-generation artificial intelligence models. AWS capacity will begin supporting OpenAI immediately, with full computing resources expected online by the end of 2026 and expansion options for 2027 and beyond. The deal sent Amazon shares up 5% in pre-market trading.

The agreement marks a significant deepening of ties between the ChatGPT creator and Amazon, and reflects OpenAI’s strategy to diversify its computing providers beyond Microsoft, its largest investor and longtime cloud partner. OpenAI has recently also engaged Google Cloud and Oracle in similar capacity agreements, underscoring the AI industry's scramble for high-performance chips and data-center space.

CEO Sam Altman has said OpenAI is committed to investing up to $1.4 trillion over the coming years to build 30 gigawatts of computing resources – a scale unprecedented in the tech industry. Analysts say the deal further positions OpenAI for a potential IPO that could value the company at up to $1 trillion. However, the massive spending spree across the AI ecosystem has raised concerns about overheating in the sector and a developing investment bubble.