Amazon Eyes $50B OpenAI Bet With Major Strings Attached
Amazon could pour up to $50 billion into OpenAI, but $35 billion depends on an IPO or hitting an AGI milestone.
Amazon is reportedly planning a massive investment in OpenAI that could reach $50 billion. But there's a catch — a big one.
According to The Information, $35 billion of that total is conditional. It hinges on either OpenAI going public or reaching a loosely defined artificial general intelligence milestone. That means only $15 billion would flow without those triggers.
The two companies are also in talks about OpenAI building custom AI models specifically for Amazon. That's a significant shift given Amazon's heavy investment in its own AI efforts through Anthropic and AWS Bedrock.
The deal structure signals Amazon is hedging its bets. Rather than writing a blank check, it's tying the bulk of its commitment to concrete business outcomes — an IPO that would provide liquidity, or an AGI breakthrough that would justify the price tag.