Amazon is reportedly in advanced discussions to invest more than $10 billion in OpenAI, valuing the artificial intelligence company at over $500 billion. Various reports indicate that the e-commerce and cloud computing behemoth is exploring an equity position in the ChatGPT creator and could facilitate further collaborations.
One of the key discussions between the two companies involves the potential use of Amazon’s Trainium chips. This collaboration could also extend to initiatives in e-commerce, leveraging OpenAI’s capabilities to enhance Amazon’s offerings across its numerous platforms. Marvell Technology, which plays a significant role in the design of Trainium, noted that it has secured purchase orders for these chips through 2026, highlighting the expected demand for this technology. Following this news, Marvell’s stock saw a premarket increase of approximately 3%.
However, any potential partnership may face complications due to Microsoft’s existing exclusivity agreement concerning OpenAI’s models on its Azure platform. This agreement limits Amazon Web Services’ ability to provide access to OpenAI’s API for its customers. Despite this, OpenAI could still utilize Amazon’s computing power for training its models, thanks to a revised agreement with Microsoft announced last October, allowing some flexibility in their collaboration.
In addition to this potential investment, Amazon has previously expanded its involvement in the AI sector by investing in Anthropic, the creator of the Claude AI model. Meanwhile, stocks for CoreWeave and Oracle, both of which are associated with OpenAI, experienced slight gains of around 2% and 1.2%, respectively, in premarket trading.
The rationale behind Amazon’s significant investment in OpenAI appears to stem from the understanding that OpenAI requires substantial cash flow to fuel its operations. The influx of funds could be beneficial for the company’s various stakeholders and vendors. However, these early gains in stock prices were reversed after a Financial Times report indicated that Blue Owl, a partner to Oracle’s data center, will not be funding a planned $10 billion facility in Michigan, resulting in broader concerns about investment stability in related markets.
