OpenAI has raised $110 billion in a funding round valuing the company at $730 billion pre-money, reaching $840 billion post-money. Amazon leads with a $50 billion investment, followed by SoftBank and Nvidia with $30 billion each. The deal strengthens OpenAI's collaboration with Amazon on AI chips and infrastructure.
OpenAI announced on Friday a $110 billion funding round, its largest to date, valuing the company at $730 billion pre-money and $840 billion post-money. This infusion aims to support the firm's efforts to secure more computing power and talent for artificial intelligence (AI) development.
Amazon, a long-time backer of rival Anthropic, invested $50 billion: an initial $15 billion, with an additional $35 billion in coming months subject to conditions. SoftBank Group Corp. and Nvidia Corp. each contributed $30 billion. OpenAI expects to attract more investors as the round progresses.
Under the Amazon deal, OpenAI will use the company's Trainium AI chips and co-develop custom models for Amazon's engineering teams. Additionally, OpenAI will invest $100 billion in Amazon Web Services over eight years. In November, they announced a $38 billion commitment to AWS services for seven years.
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, stated: “Amazon can offer us a lot in terms of new demand and market opportunities.” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the deal “will bring good long-term returns to Amazon”.
OpenAI plans to deploy Nvidia's Vera Rubin hardware for five gigawatts to train models. Microsoft, a key partner, confirmed its relationship with OpenAI remains unchanged. Meanwhile, Anthropic raised $30 billion recently, valuing it at $380 billion including the raise.
The backdrop involves concerns over high spending on AI data centers and chips. OpenAI has committed to investing over $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure.
