AWS Posts 28% Revenue Growth As Amazon Deepens AI Ties With OpenAI, Anthropic - BW Businessworld

The cloud division contributed nearly 21 per cent of total revenue at parent Amazon

Amazon Web Services (AWS) posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter revenue on Wednesday, underscoring the cloud unit's growing role in Amazon's artificial intelligence strategy as it expands partnerships with leading AI labs including OpenAI and Anthropic.

Revenue at AWS rose 28 per cent to USD 37.59 billion in the quarter, up from USD 29.27 billion a year earlier, Amazon said in its earnings release. The cloud division contributed nearly 21 per cent of total revenue at parent Amazon.

Operating income at AWS climbed about 23 per cent to USD 14.16 billion, comfortably ahead of StreetAccount expectations of USD 12.84 billion, reinforcing the unit's importance as a key profit engine for the company.

The results come as AWS faces intensifying competition in cloud infrastructure from rivals deepening their own AI offerings. Microsoft said on Wednesday that revenue from its Azure and other cloud services jumped 40 per cent, while Alphabet reported a roughly 63 per cent increase in revenue at Google Cloud.

Amazon has stepped up investment to strengthen AWS's position in the fast-moving AI market. Earlier this month, the company agreed to invest up to USD 25 billion more in Anthropic, adding to the roughly USD 8 billion it has already committed, as part of a broader deal to expand AI infrastructure. During the quarter, OpenAI said it would significantly enlarge an existing USD 38 billion AWS computing commitment, with the overall arrangement stretching over eight years and involving a planned USD 50 billion Amazon investment.

AWS's role in AI infrastructure was further bolstered this week after OpenAI said Microsoft would no longer be its exclusive cloud provider for certain workloads. A day later, AWS announced it would make OpenAI's models available through its Amazon Bedrock service, allowing customers to build AI agents and applications.

The cloud unit also said during the quarter it plans to introduce services based on low-latency chips from AI hardware maker Cerebras, which is preparing for a potential initial public offering.