OpenAI, the developer of the artificial intelligence ChatGPT, has signed a historic $38 billion deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This is OpenAI’s first major contract with Amazon and a step towards reducing its dependence on Microsoft, which until recently was the company’s main infrastructure partner. According to CNBC, the deal will give OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of scarce Nvidia GPUs needed to develop new generations of AI models.

The signing of the contract was a significant turn in the strategy of the company, which is already valued at more than $500 billion. In recent years, OpenAI has worked exclusively with Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion in it and provides ChatGPT through its own cloud platform Azure. However, in January 2025, Microsoft officially agreed to relinquish its exclusive supplier status, retaining only the right of first refusal on new OpenAI orders.

Last week, this preferential right expired, giving the company complete freedom to conclude agreements with other partners. Before that, OpenAI had already experimented with smaller contracts with Oracle and Google Cloud, but it was the agreement with AWS — the undisputed leader in the global cloud computing market — that became the most large-scale and strategically important.

At the same time, OpenAI emphasizes that it is not abandoning cooperation with Microsoft. The company remains one of the key Azure customers and recently confirmed its intention to purchase additional cloud services for $ 250 billion. Thus, OpenAI expands its partner network, balancing between the leading players in the industry.

As part of the new agreement, OpenAI has already begun using AWS infrastructure in the United States. The company will receive access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, including the latest Blackwell models, which will become the basis for scaling ChatGPT services and training the next generations of models. In the first stage, OpenAI will use existing Amazon data centers, and later the company will build a separate infrastructure specifically for the needs of the AI ​​startup. The deal is designed for long-term cooperation, at least until 2026.

For Amazon, this contract is a strategic victory against the backdrop of competition from Microsoft and Alphabet. The company already has a close partnership with Anthropic — OpenAI’s main rival — and is building a special data center in Indiana worth $ 11 billion for it. However, the inclusion of OpenAI in the AWS customer portfolio strengthens Amazon’s position in the artificial intelligence market.

Analysts see this move as preparation for OpenAI’s upcoming IPO, which could become one of the largest in the history of the technology industry. The involvement of several cloud partners at once — Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Oracle — demonstrates to investors the maturity of the business model and the company’s desire for operational independence. After the news was published, Amazon shares rose by about 5%, indicating market optimism about the new partnership.