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Amazon emerged as the largest backer in the round, committing $50 billion, its biggest-ever investment in a single company.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (IMAGE: REUTERS)
OpenAI has secured a record $110 billion in its largest funding round to date, led by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank, sharply boosting the artificial intelligence firm’s valuation ahead of a potential initial public offering.
The Sam Altman-led company said the funding values OpenAI at $730 billion on a pre-money basis. Including the new capital, its post-money valuation stands at about $840 billion, underscoring investor confidence in the rapidly expanding AI sector.
Amazon emerged as the largest backer in the round, committing $50 billion, its biggest-ever investment in a single company. SoftBank and Nvidia invested $30 billion each, OpenAI confirmed.
Announcing the funding on social media, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “We have raised a $110 billion round of funding from Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank. We are grateful for the support from our partners, and have a lot of work to do to bring you the tools you deserve.”
The fundraising comes as OpenAI and rival Anthropic accelerate capital-raising efforts to fund the massive costs of AI chips and data centre infrastructure needed to scale advanced models.
Both companies are increasingly drawing investment from a similar pool of Big Tech firms and venture capital backers.
Amazon’s sizable investment also deepens its strategic ties with OpenAI.
Under the expanded partnership, OpenAI will use Amazon’s in-house AI chips, known as Trainium, and collaborate on developing customised AI models for Amazon’s internal engineering teams.
OpenAI has also committed to spending an additional $100 billion on Amazon Web Services over the next eight years, building on a previously announced agreement to use roughly $38 billion in AWS services over seven years.
“Amazon can deliver so much to us in terms of new demand and opportunities in the market,” Altman said in an interview with CNBC. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the partnership is expected to generate strong long-term returns for the company.
Meanwhile, Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s earliest and largest backers, said the new funding does not alter its relationship with the AI developer.
“Nothing about today’s announcements in any way changes the terms of the Microsoft and OpenAI relationship,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Earlier this month, Anthropic raised $30 billion in a separate funding round that included Nvidia and Microsoft, valuing the company at $380 billion, highlighting the intensifying race among AI developers to secure capital and infrastructure at an unprecedented scale.
United States of America (USA)
February 27, 2026, 22:13 IST
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