Amazon Extends AWS-OpenAI Deal by $100B, Invests $50B; Slate Auto Raises $650M
Amazon agreed to extend its AWS contract with OpenAI by $100 billion over eight years and invest up to $50 billion, securing two gigawatts of Trainium-powered infrastructure as OpenAI pursues multi-cloud access. Separately, Jeff Bezos–backed Slate Auto raised $650 million to start affordable EV truck production by end-2026.
1. Partnership Constraints and Renegotiation
OpenAI’s longstanding partnership with Microsoft had restricted its ability to serve enterprise customers on other cloud platforms, leading to an October 2025 renegotiation. The revised agreement granted OpenAI co-development rights with third parties and removed Microsoft’s right of first refusal over compute resources.
2. AWS Contract Extension and Investment
Amazon committed up to $50 billion in equity to OpenAI and extended an existing $38 billion AWS cloud contract by $100 billion over eight years. The deal also secures two gigawatts of AWS Trainium chip–powered infrastructure to support OpenAI’s expanding enterprise demand.
3. Slate Auto Series C Funding
Jeff Bezos–backed electric vehicle startup Slate Auto completed a $650 million Series C funding round, bringing total capital raised to approximately $1.4 billion. The company, led by former Amazon executives, plans to begin production of low-cost electric pickup trucks by the end of 2026, backed by over 160,000 refundable reservations.