OpenAI Secures $38 Billion Computing Deal with Amazon to Propel AI Development

OpenAI's Significant Agreement with Amazon

OpenAI has struck a $38 billion agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to secure cloud computing power from the tech giant, the ChatGPT maker announced Monday. This multiyear deal will give the AI firm access to hundreds of thousands of state-of-the-art Nvidia chips, as the company seeks vast computing power to continue developing its AI models.

Statements from Leadership

“Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated. “Our partnership with AWS strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”

Immediate Implementation and Future Plans

OpenAI is set to begin using AWS computing power immediately, with the Amazon cloud computing arm aiming to have all of the targeted capacity deployed before the end of 2026, noted in a blog post.

“As OpenAI continues to push the boundaries of what's possible, AWS's best-in-class infrastructure will serve as a backbone for their AI ambitions,” AWS CEO Matt Garman said.

OpenAI's Broader Deal-Making Strategy

The AWS deal follows a series of agreements for OpenAI, including recent partnerships with Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom.

• Announced partnership with Nvidia to deploy 10 gigawatts, or around 4 million to 5 million chips.
• Signed a deal with AMD for 6 gigawatts of AI chips.
• Agreement with Broadcom for 10 gigawatts of custom AI accelerators.
• Reportedly signed a $300 billion deal with Oracle for 4.5 gigawatts of power.

The company’s recent deal-making spree has raised questions about its revenue stream as it seeks to fulfill about $1 trillion in commitments, according to the Financial Times.

Amid a push for more resources, OpenAI completed a restructuring of the company last week, converting its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation and giving the nonprofit a controlling stake. This shift comes after initial intentions to remove the nonprofit’s control over the for-profit arm faced significant pushback.