Amazon is reportedly in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, but the full amount may only be committed if the AI company goes public or reaches an artificial general intelligence (AGI) milestone.
The details were first reported by The Information and cited by Reuters.
According to the report, Amazon would invest $15 billion upfront, with an additional $35 billion contingent on OpenAI either achieving AGI or launching an initial public offering. If the full $50 billion is deployed, Amazon could become the largest contributor in OpenAI’s ongoing fundraising round.
The report also stated that SoftBank and NVIDIA each plan to invest $30 billion in three instalments over the year as part of the same broader funding effort.
An IPO condition would also significantly change OpenAI’s financial structure. Reuters previously reported that OpenAI has been preparing for a potential public listing that could value the company at up to $1 trillion.
Growing competition in AI
Tech companies are trying to form strong partnerships with OpenAI, which is investing a lot in data centres and AI development. Long-term investment deals can help them gain advantages in cloud computing, business services, and AI infrastructure.
Last month, Reuters reported that Amazon had been discussing an investment of tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, potentially reaching $50 billion. If confirmed, the deal would represent one of the largest corporate investments in the AI sector to date.
More importantly, the structure of the proposed agreement shows that major funding in AI is increasingly tied to long-term technological breakthroughs rather than immediate returns.
