OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has signed its first contract with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for $38 billion. The move is the latest sign that the $500 billion AI startup is diversifying its infrastructure and no longer relying solely on its main investor, Microsoft. The deal will give OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of scarce Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to scale its projects, CNBC reported on November 3.
The AWS deal marks a dramatic shift in strategy for OpenAI, which until this year had an exclusive cloud contract with Microsoft, which invested a total of $13 billion in the company. In January, Microsoft agreed to waive exclusivity in exchange for a first-refusal right on new infrastructure requests.
Last week, Microsoft’s preferential status ended, giving OpenAI complete freedom to choose its partners. While the company has already signed smaller deals with Oracle and Google, the deal with AWS — the undisputed leader in the cloud infrastructure market — is the most significant.
At the same time, OpenAI has confirmed that it remains a key Microsoft customer, pledging to purchase an additional $250 billion in Azure services last week.
Under the deal, OpenAI will immediately begin running workloads on AWS infrastructure in the US, gaining access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, including the latest Blackwell models. The deal is designed to provide capacity through 2026 and beyond.
The first phase will involve using existing AWS data centers, with Amazon building additional infrastructure for OpenAI over time. This capacity will be used for both “inference” (supporting ChatGPT in real time) and “training” (training new, more powerful AI models).
The deal is a big win for Amazon, as the cloud giant has very close ties to Anthropic, OpenAI’s main competitor. Amazon has invested billions in Anthropic and is currently building an $11 billion dedicated data center in Indiana for it.
For OpenAI, diversifying its cloud partners is a key step in preparing for an IPO. Bringing in AWS, Oracle, and Google alongside Microsoft demonstrates to investors the company’s operational independence and maturity. CEO Sam Altman recently called an IPO “the most likely path” for the company’s growth.
Amazon shares rose about 5% after the news was announced.