OpenAI Touts Amazon Deal, Claims Microsoft Restricts Client Access

In a Sunday memo, OpenAI’s new revenue chief, Denise Dresser, praised the company’s partnership with Amazon as a key driver for enterprise growth while noting constraints from its long-time ally Microsoft. The memo came less than two months after Amazon announced plans to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI. Microsoft, Amazon’s cloud rival, has poured over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019.

Amazon Web Services offers OpenAI’s models alongside other major AI tools via its Bedrock platform. Dresser wrote, “Our success is largely tied to Microsoft, but that partnership has also made it harder to meet customers where they are; for many, that’s Bedrock.” She added that customer demand since the February Amazon deal has been “staggering.” Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OpenAI is racing to gain market share in a competitive AI field where Google Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude are strong rivals. At the HumanX conference, experts described “Claude mania.” Both OpenAI and Anthropic are courting investors ahead of possible IPOs. OpenAI was recently valued at $850 billion, while Anthropic reached $380 billion. Dresser told CNBC that OpenAI’s enterprise division now accounts for 40% of revenue and is on track to match its consumer business by year-end.

Dresser urged staff to ignore market “noise” and stay focused on customers. She argued that OpenAI’s positive message would prevail over Anthropic’s “fear-based” strategy. She also claimed Anthropic inflates its reported $30 billion run-rate revenue by nearly $8 billion through gross accounting with Amazon and Google. Anthropic defends its method as GAAP-compliant.

Dresser added that Anthropic made a “strategic misstep” by not securing enough computing power, leaving it “on a smaller curve.” Anthropic declined to comment. Tensions between OpenAI and Microsoft have grown as they enter each other’s markets. Microsoft listed OpenAI as a rival in 2024 in its annual report and began developing its own AI model. Meanwhile, OpenAI has turned to other cloud providers like Google, Oracle, and CoreWeave. Dresser, a former Salesforce and Slack executive, recently expanded her role to include commercial duties previously held by Brad Lightcap. She called on the team to “stay focused, work as one, and row in the same direction.”