Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft preparing funding round as AI costs surge, competition with Google intensifies
An illustration depicting Big Tech companies. PHOTO: FILE
NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft are in talks to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI, The Information reported on Wednesday.
NVIDIA, an existing investor whose chips power OpenAI’s AI models, is in talks to invest up to $30 billion, The Information said, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.
Microsoft, a longstanding backer, is in talks to invest less than $10 billion, the report said. It added that Amazon, which would be a new investor, is in discussions to invest significantly more than $10 billion, potentially even more than $20 billion.
OpenAI is close to receiving term sheets, or an investment commitment, from these firms, the report said.
Amazon and Microsoft declined to comment, while Nvidia and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Amazon’s investment could depend on separate negotiations, including a possible expansion of OpenAI’s cloud server rental deal with Amazon and a commercial agreement for OpenAI to sell its products, such as enterprise ChatGPT subscriptions, to Amazon, The Information said.
This follows reports from earlier this week that said that SoftBank Group (9984.T) is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in OpenAI.
OpenAI is grappling with rising costs to train and run its AI models as competition from Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google heats up.
