OpenAI expands government footprint with AWS deal, report says

OpenAI has signed a deal to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to sell its AI products to the US government for classified and unclassified work.

AWS confirmed the deal to TechCrunch. The information was first reported.

The partnership comes after OpenAI signed a deal with the Pentagon to allow the military to use its AI models in its classified network — a win that came in the midst of a conflict between Anthropic and the Department of Defense (DOD). Anthropic has since been labeled a supply chain risk by the Department of Defense after it refused to back down from allowing its technology to be used for mass surveillance of Americans and to operate fully autonomous weapons. Anthropic has filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon in response.

AWS’s deal for OpenAI sees the AI ​​giant enter Anthropic’s home turf. Amazon has invested at least $4 billion in Anthropic, and as such, Anthropic uses AWS as its primary cloud provider. Claude’s models are integrated into Amazon Bedrock, the AWS AI platform for enterprise and government customers, and Claude is one of the most integrated boundary models in AWS GovCloud for public sector use.

This tie-up not only helps OpenAI support the Pentagon with its new contract, but also expands the AI ​​company’s federal footprint by positioning it to serve multiple government agencies through AWS’s existing cloud infrastructure. AWS, a major cloud provider for US agencies, has agreed to distribute OpenAI products across its public sector customer base, an AWS spokesperson told TechCrunch. This includes Amazon Bedrock in government cloud environments such as AWS GovCloud and AWS Classified Regions for classified and top secret workloads, according to an OpenAI spokesperson.

An OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch that although its models will be available through AWS, it will retain control of its technology by determining which models are available. AWS must also provide notice before enabling particularly sensitive government agencies, including intelligence customers. OpenAI will coordinate directly with customers on deployment terms, security requirements, and operating conditions, and may require additional safeguards for certain deployments.

The deal could open up more enterprise contracts, as companies often view government contracts as a seal of trust and reliability.

This article has been updated to include comments and more information from OpenAI and AWS.