Amazon, Nvidia Back OpenAI's $110B Round
Amazon has committed up to $50 billion to OpenAI as part of a historic $110 billion funding round that also features major investments from Nvidia and SoftBank. The deal, which values OpenAI at $840 billion post-money, cements Amazon Web Services as the primary cloud provider for the AI firm's enterprise offerings.
This latest $110 billion funding round is the largest in OpenAI's history, with significant contributions of $30 billion each from Nvidia and SoftBank, in addition to Amazon's $50 billion. The investment boosts OpenAI's valuation to a staggering $840 billion, a significant increase from its $500 billion valuation in October 2025. The deal with Amazon involves more than just capital; it establishes a deep strategic partnership. OpenAI has committed to spending an additional $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over the next eight years, expanding on a previous $38 billion agreement. This makes AWS a primary cloud provider for OpenAI's demanding AI workloads. As part of the collaboration, OpenAI will utilize 2 gigawatts of computing capacity from Amazon's custom-designed Trainium AI chips. This move is a significant endorsement of Amazon's in-house silicon as a viable alternative to Nvidia's dominant GPUs for training and running large-scale AI models. Amazon's investment in OpenAI is particularly noteworthy given its existing substantial financial backing of Anthropic, a key OpenAI competitor. Amazon has invested a total of $8 billion in Anthropic, making its $50 billion commitment to OpenAI a significantly larger bet on another major player in the AI space. This funding round also solidifies the intricate web of investments and partnerships in the AI industry. Microsoft remains a cornerstone partner for OpenAI, having invested over $13 billion previously and holding a significant stake. The new agreement with Amazon does not alter Microsoft's existing exclusive licensing and IP rights with OpenAI. The massive influx of capital is earmarked to fuel the immense computational power required for developing more advanced AI models. OpenAI is reportedly targeting a total compute spend of around $600 billion through 2030 to stay at the forefront of AI research and development.
