OpenAI Partners with AWS, Expanding Cloud Access to Its Models for the First Time
For the first time, OpenAI’s models will be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS), marking a significant shift in cloud AI partnerships. AWS announced that OpenAI’s newly released open-weight reasoning models—comparable to its powerful o-series, will now be integrated into Amazon AI services Bedrock and SageMaker. This move introduces OpenAI’s tools to a broader range of developers and enterprises, creating more competition in the cloud AI infrastructure space.
The partnership is a competitive boost for AWS, which had previously been known as a key backer of OpenAI rival Anthropic. With Bedrock offering third-party generative AI models and SageMaker focusing on model development and training, AWS customers now gain direct access to OpenAI models. Although these models can be downloaded via Hugging Face, Amazon’s offering comes with OpenAI’s official support and endorsement, unlike some past model integrations.
This announcement arrives at a critical time for AWS, as Microsoft’s Azure continues to dominate AI headlines due to its deep partnership with OpenAI. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has faced intense scrutiny from analysts over AWS’s perceived lag in generative AI. During Amazon’s recent earnings call, Jassy deflected concerns, claiming AWS’s lead remains intact—though Wall Street continues to challenge that narrative.
Adding to the competitive cloud narrative, Oracle reportedly struck a massive $30 billion per year deal with OpenAI to provide data center services—overshadowing AWS’s historical absence from OpenAI’s vendor list. The AWS deal, though smaller in scope, finally brings Amazon into OpenAI’s circle, likely as a result of OpenAI’s strained negotiations with Microsoft over their long-term partnership.
By releasing the models under the Apache 2.0 license, OpenAI strengthens its position in the open-source AI movement. This also gives OpenAI an edge over Meta, which recently admitted it may limit open-sourcing future “superintelligence” models. For OpenAI, making its models more accessible via AWS not only broadens its enterprise footprint but also reinforces its independence in a rapidly consolidating cloud AI landscape.
Source: Techcrunch