Amazon is negotiating a potential $10 billion investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in a deal that could push the company’s valuation beyond $500 billion.

The talks coincide with OpenAI’s recent transformation into a public benefit corporation, amid mounting speculation around an impending IPO.

Until recently, Microsoft has been OpenAI’s most prominent strategic backer. The tech giant holds a 27% stake in OpenAI and retains exclusive rights to sell the company’s models through its Azure cloud platform, a partnership central to Microsoft’s AI strategy. However, earlier this year OpenAI restructured itself into a public benefit corporation enshrined under a non‑profit control model that eased previous constraints on fundraising.

OpenAI is reportedly set to harness Amazon’s Trainium AI chips to train its next generation of advanced AI models. The move would not only deepen OpenAI’s dependence on Amazon’s cloud infrastructure but could also boost AWS’s standing in the fiercely competitive AI services market.

Some sources believe that OpenAI may offer Amazon an enterprise version of ChatGPT, though it remains uncertain whether this will extend to integrating generative AI capabilities into Amazon’s vast array of consumer products.

OpenAI has named former UK Chancellor George Osborne as managing director and head of its new “OpenAI for Countries” division. Osborne’s appointment comes as the company accelerates its efforts to support governments in developing sovereign AI infrastructure and public-sector applications of generative AI. The “OpenAI for Countries” initiative forms part of the ambitious $500 billion Stargate project.

The appointment coincides with a wave of high-profile political figures taking influential roles in tech and AI. Last week, Sir Nick Clegg, former head of global affairs at META and ex-UK deputy prime minister, joined HIRO Capital as a general partner for the launch of HIRO III, a fund targeting over €500 million, joining acclaimed AI innovator and ex-Meta scientist Yann LeCun. HIRO III will address the “European tech scale-up gap,” providing funding to homegrown tech entrepreneurs.

In a similar vein, it was announced in October this year that former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak had taken up the role an advisor at Anthropic, a leading AI firm backed by Google and other major investors.

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