Today’s financial news highlights a significant development in the tech industry as OpenAI signs a $38 billion compute deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS), marking its first major partnership outside of Microsoft. The deal will enable OpenAI to access AWS’s extensive cloud infrastructure, including hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, to support its AI workloads through 2026 and beyond, with plans to expand capacity into 2027. This move signifies a shift for OpenAI, which previously relied heavily on Microsoft as its exclusive cloud provider, investing over $13 billion in Microsoft Azure since 2019. The partnership aims to enhance OpenAI's ability to develop and run advanced AI models, including ChatGPT, by leveraging AWS’s scalable and secure infrastructure. AWS will supply Amazon EC2 UltraServers with optimized GPU clusters for efficient AI training and inference, supporting OpenAI’s evolving needs. This collaboration is part of a broader trend of major tech companies expanding their AI infrastructure investments, with Amazon also constructing an $11 billion data center campus for AI workloads. In addition to the AWS-OpenAI deal, Amazon announced a series of strategic moves including a $5.5 billion 15-year lease for new AI capacity and a significant stake in AI infrastructure provider Cipher Mining. Meanwhile, OpenAI continues to diversify its cloud partnerships, including agreements with Google and Oracle, and maintains a substantial investment in Microsoft Azure, reaffirming its multi-cloud strategy. Market reactions to these developments were positive, with Amazon’s stock rising approximately 5% and Nvidia gaining over 2%, driven by optimism about AI spending and infrastructure growth. The AI sector’s expansion is also reflected in other corporate activities, such as Kimberly-Clark’s acquisition of Kenvue for $48.7 billion and significant investments in AI data centers by companies like IREN and Anthropic. Overall, the deals underscore a major shift towards cloud infrastructure expansion for AI, with AWS positioning itself as a leader in supporting the next generation of artificial intelligence technology, and OpenAI preparing for potential public offering as it scales its operations.