Why OpenAI needs to raise equity, and ‘a lot of it’

00:00 Julie

I have to ask you, Paul, about reports that Amazon is in talks to invest $50 billion in open AI. So it feels like just another day, another one of these investments. We haven’t experienced so much this year. So what do you say to this?

00:19 paul

You know, I’m really hoping this happens because I’ve been covering Neo clouds and other AI infrastructure builders before, and whether it’s with a large private round or an IPO later in ’26, it’s critical for Open AI to raise equity and a lot of it because so much of this ecosystem, Julie, is dependent on Open AI’s spending intentions of 1.4 trillion in just four years. They will need to raise a lot of equity capital. I hope this happens. I think Anthropic’s recent very successful equity raise makes me feel better. But I hope this works because so many people are addicted to Open AI increasing equality.

00:58 Julie

That’s interesting, but you say you hope this happens for Open AI and neo clouds, not for Amazon. So is it a good idea for Amazon to do this?

01:08 paul

I think so too. It depends on the circumstances, right? These are always details, but you know, are they locking down the capacity of Amazon Web services? Do they have another opportunity besides working with Open AI to monetize their own AI intentions? I think this could be a good deal for both parties, but I think it’s especially important for Open AI.