The Maze: Amazon backs both Anthropic, which makes Claude, and OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT. Together the rival labs account for about 87% of the $2.10 trillion in company valuations Ben Carden tallied across 11 private AI businesses backed by Amazon as of October 22, 2026. Those figures price whole companies at their latest listed funding or deal values. Amazon's own financial exposure shows up separately in its filings.
The details
📊 Two labs dominate the ranking. The October 22 tally puts Anthropic at $965 billion and OpenAI at $852 billion. Together they reach $1.82 trillion. Databricks, which helps companies manage data and build AI applications, is a distant third at $190 billion. The snapshot combines values from deals struck on different dates, some reported and some disclosed by the companies.
💵 The holdings tell a different story. Amazon reported that it held about $190 billion in Anthropic shares and convertible notes as of June 30. The notes are debt that can convert into shares, and Amazon estimated their fair value at $97.9 billion on that date. Separately, by September 30 Amazon had put $50 billion into OpenAI preferred shares. The October ranking compares company prices. The filings show how much of the exposure sits on Amazon's balance sheet and in what form.
🤖 Robotics has breadth. Five robotics businesses make up roughly $57 billion, or under 3% of the listed valuations. Figure AI and Skild AI account for $53 billion of that total. The other three include Agility Robotics, whose $2.5 billion figure is an agreed valuation before new money in a proposed deal. The concentration at the top holds even with these different valuation methods.
Our take
The investments give Amazon ways to benefit from different parts of the AI business. The evidence for each depends on what Amazon gets to sell or test.
☁️ Look for demand for computing. The OpenAI deal pairs equity with planned use of Amazon's Trainium chips and distribution of OpenAI's Frontier software through Amazon Web Services. That gives Amazon a way to earn from customers running the software even when someone else supplies the AI model. The arrangement covers specific products and workloads. How much value Amazon captures will depend on actual usage and what it costs to supply.
📦 Judge warehouse robots one task at a time. In October 2023, Amazon announced plans to test Agility Robotics’ Digit on moving empty totes, the reusable bins that carry items through a warehouse. A pilot like that lets an operator measure time and cost per move alongside the interruptions it causes on a working floor. That is a separate test from whether the startup's shares rise, and the announcement provides no performance results.
Sources: Ben Carden / RevenueFlow · Amazon June 2026 10-Q · Amazon September 2026 10-Q · Amazon and OpenAI partnership · Amazon robotics pilot
