Some people have a natural draw to the spotlight. In the investment world, personalities like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon can move markets based on a single comment during an interview. Tesla CEO Elon Musk can influence investor sentiment with one post on social media.
When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), perhaps no one commands more attention than Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. On Nov. 3, OpenAI announced a headline-grabbing $38 billion partnership with e-commerce and cloud titan Amazon (AMZN 1.91%).
Let's unpack how this deal benefits both companies, and assess why it marks such strategic importance as investment in AI infrastructure continues to accelerate.
NASDAQ: AMZN
Key Data Points
Amazon is leader of the cloud hyperscalers
According to data compiled by Statista, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the largest cloud infrastructure provider -- boasting 30% market share as of the end of the second quarter. Trailing AWS are Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which hold 20% and 13% market share, respectively.
Image source: Getty Images.
OpenAI and Amazon are deepening their relationship
Following the commercial launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, OpenAI became closely tied to the Microsoft Azure platform through a multi-billion-dollar investment in the company by the Windows developer.
However, Altman has been on a mission throughout 2025 to forge collaborations with alternative cloud providers. Over the summer, OpenAI expanded its reach by partnering with Alphabet's GCP. The company also leverages Oracle's cloud infrastructure services.
The strategic rationale behind these deals is simple: AI developers are seeking to diversify their compute protocols in an effort to reduce reliance on a single capacity provider. One of OpenAI's most direct rivals, Anthropic, is employing a similar playbook. It recently signed a massive contract with Google Cloud, signaling a migration away from AWS.
Earlier this year, some of OpenAI's models onboarded to Amazon Bedrock. Given the success of this deployment, OpenAI is doubling down on its relationship with AWS -- this time committing $38 billion worth of infrastructure spending.
Per the structure of the deal, OpenAI will access hundreds of thousands of clusters of Nvidia GB200 and GB300 chips from AWS. By teaming up with Amazon, OpenAI now has the support of all three major cloud hyperscalers to accelerate its training and inferencing workloads.
Image source: Getty Images.
Is Amazon stock a buy right now?
The chart below illustrates the forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios among major cloud providers. At first glance, Amazon's forward P/E of 36 might suggest that the stock is trading for a premium. However, a closer look reveals a more nuanced story.
ORCL PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.
During the first few months of the year, Amazon's valuation contracted sharply fueled by concerns over how President Donald Trump's new tariff policies would affect the company's e-commerce business.
During this period, Microsoft boasted the highest multiple in this group. More recently, however, investor sentiment has shifted toward Oracle, Alphabet, and Amazon, driving noticeable valuation expansion across all three. Meanwhile, Microsoft contracted around July and has remained relatively flat ever since.
What is driving these dynamics? In my eyes, it all traces back to Altman and the OpenAI CEO's actions to deepen ties with other hyperscalers and steadily diversify the company's capacity needs beyond Microsoft.
I think the $38 billion deal with OpenAI positions Amazon to strengthen its competitive advantages against the likes of Google Cloud and Azure, potentially fueling accelerated earnings growth amid the AI infrastructure boom.
Amazon's current setup looks compelling as it sits at a unique juncture between growth and value. Investors with a long-term time horizon could use Amazon as a blue chip, buy-and-hold opportunity before the company's AI ambitions kick into full gear.
