OpenAI Teams Up With AWS – Here Are Its Other Major Partnerships In 2025

When OpenAI recently announced its multi-year strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), committing roughly US$38 billion for cloud-infrastructure support over seven years, it made headlines.

But, while the AWS deal is certainly headline-grabbing, the real story lies in the broader tapestry of partnerships that OpenAI has woven throughout 2025 and why those relationships may prove just as crucial to its long-term positioning in the industry.

Why These Partnerships Matter

On the surface, the AWS agreement gives OpenAI access to vast compute capacity – that is, hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs and the ability to scale to tens of millions of CPUs via Amazon’s infrastructure. But, behind that announcement lies a broader strategic imperative.

In the AI era, technological capability is only part of the equation – supply-chain resilience, vendor diversification, preferential access to hardware and embedded alliances matter just as much.

By striking major deals across cloud providers, chipmakers and infrastructure partners, OpenAI is effectively converting its compute dependency into strategic leverage. Through this extraordinary series of partnerships, OpenAI has made itself too big to fail in the technology ecosystem.

It’s no longer simply about having the best model or the flashiest feature, but rather about being deeply entangled with the broader infrastructure that supports AI.

The Other Major Partnerships

Here are some of the key alliances OpenAI has signed or announced in 2025, besides the AWS deal:

• Nvidia: In September 2025, OpenAI announced an up-to-US$100 billion partnership with Nvidia to supply its most advanced GPUs and build significant compute capacity.
• AMD: Announced in early October, this roughly US$100 billion deal positions OpenAI to diversify away from reliance on a single chip-supplier, securing AMD supply and options to acquire up to 10 % of AMD stock.
• Intel: A US$25 billion deal announced in October focusing on x86 CPUs to support the infrastructure that sits alongside GPUs in large-scale AI systems.
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC): A US$20 billion fabrication relationship announced in October, giving OpenAI visibility into the chip manufacturing pipeline and priority access to advanced production nodes.
• Oracle Corporation: As part of the so-called “Stargate” infrastructure push, Oracle signed on for significant data-centre capacity – reportedly worth around US$10 billion annually – to support massive AI infrastructure roll-out.
• Samsung Electronics: Announced 1 October 2025 as part of OpenAI’s “Stargate” global infrastructure programme, this strategic partnership covers advanced memory supply (DRAM and HBM), AI data-centre build-out, and the exploration of floating data-centres through Samsung Heavy Industries. It positions Samsung as a critical hardware and infrastructure ally for OpenAI, particularly across Asia.

Together, these alliances represent a deliberate strategy – get closer to the hardware and infrastructure ecosystem, spread risk and dependencies and build a moat that’s harder for rivals to replicate.

Is This How OpenAI Will Survive the AI “Bubble” Burst?

There has been no shortage of commentary suggesting that AI hype may be reaching a saturation point. With enormous engineering demands, rising infrastructure costs and the challenge of turning generative-AI efforts into sustained profitable business models, the idea of an AI “bubble” is common. In that context, partnerships become not only beneficial but perhaps essential.

When access to high-end GPUs is constrained and cloud providers are busy serving multiple hungry competitors, having formal deals in place with hardware vendors and cloud providers gives OpenAI a clear competitive edge. It means OpenAI is less likely to be squeezed or delayed when infrastructure bottlenecks arise. It also shifts some of the cost burden and risk onto partners, who are now invested in OpenAI’s success.

Furthermore, the diversification of partners reduces systemic risk. If OpenAI had remained locked into a single cloud provider or single chip vendor, it would be vulnerable to supply disruptions, price hikes or competitive manoeuvres. Instead, by having multiple major suppliers and providers, it spreads that risk across the ecosystem.

Does This Give OpenAI a Competitive Advantage?

Yes, in several key ways.

First, preferential hardware access. Companies like Nvidia and AMD now treat OpenAI as a major strategic partner rather than just a customer. That means earlier access to next-generation chips, better pricing and more favourable terms. This hardware advantage translates into faster model training, more frequent releases and the ability to develop more ambitious, complex AI systems.

Second, infrastructure scale. With multiple mega-deals in place, OpenAI is in a position to deploy at an enormous scale – building data centres, custom accelerators and securing manufacturing pipelines. That scale is non-trivial and creates a physical barrier to entry for new competitors.

Third, ecosystem embedding. By aligning with the major players – cloud, infrastructure, foundries and chip-makers – OpenAI is becoming an infrastructural linchpin. Its success is now intertwined with the fortunes of the entire AI infrastructure industry. This embedding makes OpenAI less of an isolated research lab and more of a central platform within the global AI value chain.

Are Other Companies Doing the Same?

Yes, but perhaps not as aggressively. Rival AI firms are also seeking strategic partnerships and infrastructure deals, but few are operating on OpenAI’s scale. Many simply rent cloud compute – OpenAI is locking in multi-year, multi-billion-dollar commitments across the stack. That breadth – spanning cloud, chips, foundries, fabrication and accelerators – is relatively unique.

Tech giants such as Google, Meta and Microsoft are investing heavily in their own custom hardware and infrastructure partnerships, but OpenAI’s approach is more deliberate in its intent to become indispensable. It’s not just building models – it’s constructing an ecosystem that ensures it remains at the heart of AI’s future.

The Bigger Picture: What It All Means for OpenAI

The AWS deal rightly grabs attention, but the bigger picture is the web of relationships surrounding OpenAI in 2025. By securing major alliances across cloud providers, chipmakers, foundries and infrastructure firms, OpenAI is ramping up its technological capacity and building resilience.

In an era where compute is competitive currency, and hardware and supply chains matter as much as algorithms, this strategy could well determine who wins the next chapter of AI. If the bubble bursts or the broader market cools, the companies with long-term deals, diversified infrastructure and strategic alignment will fare far better.

For OpenAI, these partnerships may not just be a competitive advantage – they could be the very thing that keeps it standing when the dust settles.