OpenAI Partners With Amazon in Major AI Compute Deal
▼ Summary
– OpenAI signed a seven-year, $38 billion deal with Amazon Web Services for cloud computing to power products like ChatGPT and Sora.
– The agreement provides OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processors for training and running its AI models.
– OpenAI will use AWS immediately, with full capacity expected by the end of 2026 and potential for expansion in 2027 and beyond.
– Amazon’s stock reached an all-time high following the announcement, while Microsoft’s shares briefly declined.
– OpenAI plans to spend $1.4 trillion to develop 30 gigawatts of computing resources to address massive AI compute requirements.
OpenAI has entered into a landmark seven-year agreement valued at $38 billion with Amazon Web Services, securing the immense cloud computing capacity required to advance its artificial intelligence systems. This strategic move marks OpenAI’s first major computing partnership since a recent corporate restructuring that granted the company greater autonomy from its primary backer, Microsoft. The deal provides OpenAI with access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processing units, essential for training sophisticated models like ChatGPT and Sora and for running them at scale.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, emphasized that scaling frontier AI demands massive, reliable compute infrastructure. He stated that the collaboration with AWS will help build a robust computational ecosystem capable of driving the next wave of AI innovation and making advanced artificial intelligence accessible globally. Implementation is set to begin immediately, with full capacity expected by the end of 2026 and provisions for further expansion in 2027 and beyond. Amazon will deploy extensive clusters featuring Nvidia’s latest GB200 and GB300 AI accelerators, designed specifically to handle tasks such as generating real-time ChatGPT responses, producing AI-generated video content, and training future generations of OpenAI models.
Financial markets responded positively to the announcement, with Amazon’s stock reaching a record high on Monday. In contrast, shares of Microsoft, a longstanding investor and partner of OpenAI, experienced a brief decline following the news. The arrangement underscores the critical importance of securing advanced hardware in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.
Generative AI models serving hundreds of millions of users consume extraordinary amounts of computational resources. Recent chip shortages have made sourcing this level of processing power particularly challenging. While OpenAI is reportedly developing its own GPU hardware to address future constraints, the company’s immediate focus remains on securing high-performance Nvidia chips to accelerate AI workloads. Altman has previously outlined ambitious plans to invest approximately $1.4 trillion in developing computing resources totaling 30 gigawatts, an amount of energy comparable to powering about 25 million households in the United States.
(Source: Ars Technica)
