Amazon (AMZN.O) announced a $230 million investment in artificial intelligence (AI) startups through Amazon Web Service (AWS) credits. This initiative aims to attract AI clients at their nascent stages by offering early-stage generative AI startups free access to computing power, AI models, and infrastructure on the AWS platform.
This new investment is part of Amazon’s broader strategy to support startups, adding to the $1 billion in cloud credits it already offers annually. The focus now is on generative AI startups, enabling them to rapidly iterate and scale their operations securely and consistently.
Matt Wood, vice president of AI Products at AWS, emphasized the benefits for startups, saying, “They’ll be able to iterate very quickly and pivot as necessary. When they hit on that home run, they’ll be able to double down and scale with security, responsibility, and consistency.”
The AWS Generative AI Accelerator program will also benefit from this investment, with part of the credits supporting 80 early-stage companies globally. Each startup in the accelerator could receive up to $1 million in AWS credits.
Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure (MSFT.O) and Google Cloud (GOOGL.O) commonly offer credits to attract enterprises, as cloud costs can increase significantly with higher usage. Earlier this year, Amazon expanded its cloud credits to include models from providers such as Anthropic, Meta (META.O), Mistral AI, and Cohere, aiming to boost the market share of its AI platform.
The demand for AI has driven up cloud service usage, contributing to the rapid growth of cloud providers. AWS’s revenue, for example, rose 17% to $9.42 billion in the first quarter, surpassing analyst expectations. However, the substantial investments by tech giants in AI startups have also drawn regulatory attention over antitrust concerns.
Additionally, Howard Wright, global head of Startups at AWS, recently left the company, according to sources familiar with the matter. Amazon declined to comment on his departure.