Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft: 60 billion ready for OpenAI

Betting on OpenAI has become a favourite game at the Big Tech casino. And it is no coincidence, then, that Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon are in talks to invest up to 60 billion dollars in the company that produces ChatGPT. A move that is part of a new maxi funding round that could total up to $100 billion. The news is reported by The Information, citing sources familiar with the talks.

Nvidia (which, it should be remembered, is already among OpenAI's top investors) is reportedly considering a commitment of up to USD 30 billion, while Microsoft, which is also among the company's main backers, could invest less than USD 10 billion. Amazon, which would enter the capital of Sam Altman's company for the first time, would be in discussion for an investment of more than $10 billion, with the possibility of even exceeding the $20 billion threshold.

In all, the new round would be in addition to the approximately USD 30 billion that SoftBank had already planned to allocate to OpenAI. An operation of this size would serve to reduce investors' concerns about the Mission Bay (San Francisco)-based company's high cash consumption, but it also fits in with a phase of strong investment intensification in artificial intelligence, which some Wall Street analysts are beginning to consider potentially excessive. Not to mention that OpenAI is also in the odour of an IPO, so these investments could also be strategic from a financial point of view.

It should be recalled that in recent months, several observers have warned of the risk of a bubble, pointing out the circular nature of certain operations: large technology groups invest in companies that, in turn, become strategic clients of their infrastructure and chips, fuelling demand for the products of the investors themselves.

In the case of Amazon, the size of the investment might depend on other ongoing agreements with OpenAI. The two companies are said to be in an early stage of discussions for a financing of at least USD 10 billion by the Seattle-based group, accompanied by the use of Amazon's proprietary chips by OpenAI. A deal that would strengthen Amazon's position in the artificial intelligence market and competition with Nvidia. The companies have already announced a separate agreement under which Amazon will provide OpenAI with up to $38 billion in cloud computing capacity over seven years.