OpenAI signs $38bn cloud computing deal with Amazon
OpenAI has signed a $38bn (£29bn) deal to use Amazon infrastructure to operate its artificial intelligence products, as part of a more than $1tn spending spree on computing power.The agreement with Amazon Web Services means OpenAI will be able to use AWS datacentres, and the Nvidia chips inside them, immediately.Last week, OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, said his company had committed to spending $1.4tn on AI infrastructure, amid concerns over the sustainability of the boom in using and building datacentres.These are the central nervous systems of AI tools such as ChatGPT.
“Scaling frontier AI requires massive, reliable compute,” Altman said on Monday.“Our partnership with AWS strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”OpenAI said the deal would give it access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia graphics processors to train and run its AI models.Amazon plans to use the chips in data clusters that will power ChatGPT’s responses and train OpenAI’s next wave of models, the companies said.Matt Garman, the chief executive of AWS, said OpenAI continued to push the boundaries of what was possible and that Amazon’s infrastructure would serve as a backbone for its ambitions.
OpenAI is committed to developing 30 gigawatts of computing resources – enough to power roughly 25 million US homes,Last week, OpenAI said it had converted its main business into a for-profit corporation as part of a reorganisation that valued the startup at $500bn,Its longtime backer Microsoft will have a roughly 27% stake in OpenAI’s new for-profit corporation,The race for computing power by AI companies has raised concerns among some market watchers about how it will be paid for,OpenAI’s annual revenue is about $13bn, according the Financial Times, a figure dwarfed by its $1.
4tn infrastructure commitment.Other datacentre deals signed by OpenAI include a $300bn agreement with the US company Oracle.Altman hit back at the spending concerns during a podcast appearance with the Microsoft chief executive, Satya Nadella, saying “enough” to a question from the host, the US investor Brad Gerstner, about the gap between OpenAI’s revenue and its infrastructure commitments.Altman said OpenAI made “well more” revenue than the reported $13bn, without specifying a number.He added: “I just – enough … I think there’s are a lot of people who would love to buy OpenAI shares.
”Analysts at the US investment bank Morgan Stanley estimate that global spending on datacentres will reach nearly $3tn between now and 2028.They said half of that spending would be covered by the big US tech companies and the rest would come from sources such as the private credit market, a growing part of the shadow banking sector that is raising concerns at the Bank of England and elsewhere.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.
Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu.Select ‘Secure Messaging’.SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and postIf you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform.
Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.
Safety of train users and staff is paramount | Brief letters
The new east-west train service between Oxford and Milton Keynes has been delayed due to the government and rail companies insisting on driver-only trains. We have just experienced a mass stabbing of passengers by a lone attacker on a busy train in Cambridgeshire, where a railway employee made a heroic attempt to protect them (Report, 2 November). Is this really the time for leaving the public and the train driver at the mercy of single manning?Jessica HolroydMilton Keynes Three cheers for the lost, lamented A-level history personal study. Some students undertook original research and some, like Cathy O’Neill in 1977, unearthed a real gem (Lost grave of daughter of Black abolitionist Olaudah Equiano found by A-level student, 1 November). Worth 25% of their final grade, it was the part of the course which students enjoyed most and from which they learned the most about history
UK factories return to growth after JLR restarts operations; US manufacturing exports hit by tariffs – as it happened
UK manufacturing output has expanded for the first time in a year, helped by the restart of production at Jaguar Land Rover following its recent cyberhack.The latest poll of purchasing managers at UK factories, just released by S&P Global, shows that manufacturing output rose for the first time in a year in October.S&P Global reports that production volumes rose in the consumer and intermediate goods industries, partly due to a boost from the staged restarting of production at JLR last month.This helped to lift the wider UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index to a 12-month high of 49.7 in October, up from 46
UK economy ‘doomed’ under Labour, says Ryanair chief
The UK economy is “doomed” under the Labour government, the boss of Ryanair has said before this month’s budget, as the airline revealed a jump in first half profits.Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of the budget airline, hit out at Rachel Reeves, accusing the chancellor of failing to deliver on her programme of economic growth.“The UK economy under the current leadership is doomed,” he said. “The UK badly needs growth, but the way to deliver growth is through selective tax cuts … you are not going to grow the UK economy by taxing wealth or by taxing air travel.”It comes as airlines brace for the possibility of another increase in air passenger duty (APD) at the budget on 26 November
Kimberly-Clark to buy Tylenol maker Kenvue in landmark $40bn merger
Kleenex and Huggies maker Kimberly-Clark unveiled plans to buy Kenvue, the embattled consumer health conglomerate behind Tylenol, in a landmark deal for more than $40bn.The blockbuster takeover comes weeks after Donald Trump claimed Tylenol heightens the risk of autism in children when it is used by pregnant women, an assertion hotly contested by scientists and contradicted by studies.The high-profile claims compounded months of struggles for Kenvue, which ousted its CEO in July and endured sharp stock market declines.Kenvue, which also makes Listerine mouthwash, Neutrogena skincare products and Johnson’s baby oil, was spun out of Johnson & Johnson two years ago. Its shares jumped 17% on Monday morning, while Kimberly-Clark dropped 12% in New York
Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies
Australia’s private employment services are failing to get jobseekers into long-term work, despite costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year, department documents show.Just 11.7% of jobseekers in Australia found long-term employment through a job provider in the latest financial year, according to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ annual report.Service providers are allowed to claim publicly funded outcome payments when clients have completed four, 12 and 26 weeks in employment – regardless of whether the client or provider found the job.Guardian Australia has previously revealed many jobseekers who find their own employment were bullied into handing over payslips so providers can claim the public money
Jaguar Land Rover restart helps UK factories return to growth
UK factories staged a recovery in October after the reopening of Jaguar Land Rover operations and a pick-up in consumer spending, according to a closely watched survey of the manufacturing sector.The S&P Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a one-year high as business optimism improved and factory output expanded.Jaguar Land Rover, Britain’s biggest carmaker, supported the recovery after it began reopening facilities hit by a cyber-attack that some experts estimated cost the UK economy about £1.9bn.Manufacturers were able to shake off some of the uncertainty from Donald Trump’s tariffs
What would UK economic policy look like under Nigel Farage’s Reform?
Nigel Farage to promise business deregulation in economic policy speech
Tory patience wears thin as Badenoch’s critics count down to May elections
Rachel Reeves considers 20% tax on assets of people deciding to leave UK
HMRC likely to have breached privacy laws in stopping child benefit – experts
Reform councillor defects to Tories after party’s policies left him ‘uncomfortable’