Amazon reportedly in talks to invest as much as $50 billion in OpenAI

Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. According to sources, the figure could be as high as $50 billion. The discussion is still in the early stages and the final numbers have not been finalized.  Big Tech companies and investors such as SoftBank Group Corp are racing to forge partnerships with OpenAI - which is spending heavily on data centers. These companies are betting that closer ties with the AI startup would give them a competitive edge in the AI race.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is leading the negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the development. Investing up to $50 billion could make Amazon the biggest contributor to the AI company's ongoing fundraising round.

Amazon is also an investor in Anthropic, having invested about $8 billion in the company, recently valued at $183 billion. Anthropic, which has emerged as a key rival to OpenAI due to the strong adoption of its services by enterprise customers, has forecast that it will more than double and potentially nearly triple its annualized revenue run rate in 2026 to around $26 billion.

OpenAI’s other key investors

OpenAI is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion. SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in the startup.

OpenAI has also signed a $10 billion computing deal with Nvidia challenger Cerebras earlier this month, laying the groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1 trillion, as reported by Reuters.