OpenAI to Supply ChatGPT and Codex on AWS Platform

OpenAI, which has been facing concerns over slowing growth, has broken away from its exclusive cloud alliance with Microsoft Corporation and is now moving into a full-fledged partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The move appears to be part of a broad push to diversify revenue as worries grow ahead of its planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) later this year.
According to foreign media reports on the 29th, OpenAI said in a statement the previous day that "both its consumer and enterprise businesses are performing strongly across the board" and that "internal sentiment is very positive." The company was responding to recent claims that its growth is slowing. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported the day before, citing anonymous sources, that OpenAI had failed to meet targets for new users and revenue, and that internal concerns were rising over whether it could absorb the massive costs of artificial intelligence (AI) investment. OpenAI, which is aiming for an IPO later this year, has been accumulating losses due to heavy spending. Analysts have also said the company is under pressure to defend its market share as rival models such as Google Gemini and Claude from Anthropic gain ground. Following those reports, concerns about the AI boom spread, and shares of OpenAI investors and partners including SoftBank Group Corp., Oracle Corporation, and CoreWeave also fell.
Still, OpenAI is trying to turn the narrative around by announcing AI model distribution through Amazon Web Services (AWS) just one day after ending its exclusive cloud clause with Microsoft. AWS said during its live-streamed "AWS re:Invent" event on the 28th local time that it will offer OpenAI's AI model GPT and its coding tool Codex on Amazon Bedrock, its AI model integration platform, with a full launch planned within weeks.
Through this partnership, OpenAI will be able to significantly expand its business-to-business (B2B) sales reach beyond companies using Microsoft Azure to include firms that rely on AWS. The company is now laying the groundwork to help drive a rebound in revenue ahead of its planned IPO later this year.
AWS is currently the world's No. 1 cloud provider, and Amazon Bedrock has offered its own AI models alongside those from Anthropic, Meta Platforms, Nvidia Corporation, and Mistral AI. In February, Amazon agreed to invest up to $5 billion in OpenAI on a conditional basis, the largest single-company investment Amazon has made.
wongood@fnnews.com Juwon Kyu Reporter