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Amazon did not buy Slack. On June 4, 2020, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Slack announced a multi-year partnership: AWS planned to use Slack for internal team communication, while Slack said it would continue using AWS as its preferred cloud provider. The announcement also said Amazon Chime SDK would power audio, video, and screen sharing in native Slack Calls.
What did Amazon and Slack agree to?
The agreement linked the companies as customers and technology partners. AWS planned to use Slack to simplify communication among its teams. Slack, in turn, said AWS would remain its preferred cloud provider. The companies described the arrangement as a multi-year collaboration focused on enterprise workplace tools and integrations—not an acquisition. Amazon’s June 4, 2020 announcement and Slack’s announcement set out the deal’s scope.
Slack CEO and co-founder Stewart Butterfield said, “Strategically partnering with AWS allows both companies to scale to meet demand and deliver enterprise-grade offerings to our customers.”
How was Amazon Chime related to Slack Calls?
The companies announced that Amazon Chime SDK technology would power audio, video, and screen-sharing capabilities in native Slack Calls. Slack described this as a move to Amazon Chime’s voice and video infrastructure. In other words, Chime was presented as underlying technology for calling inside Slack, not as a replacement Slack app users would have to open for those native calls.
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The announcement also referred to Amazon Chime meetings and integrations. Those should not be confused with the plan to use Chime technology inside Slack Calls.
What other AWS integrations were announced?
The June 2020 announcement named several additional areas of work:
- AWS Chatbot: support for using AWS Chatbot in Slack.
- Amazon AppFlow: an integration intended to transfer data between Slack and AWS services.
- AWS Key Management Service: support for Slack Enterprise Key Management.
These were presented as part of a broader effort to connect AWS services with Slack. The announcement described plans and forthcoming capabilities at that time; it does not establish that every capability remains available in the same form today.
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Was Amazon Chime already connected to Slack?
Yes. AWS announced an Amazon Chime Meetings App for Slack on December 5, 2019, before the partnership announcement. The app let Slack users start or join one-to-one and group Amazon Chime meetings from channels and conversations. That app was a way to access Chime meetings from Slack; it was separate from the June 2020 plan for Chime technology to power native Slack Calls. AWS’s 2019 announcement describes the earlier app.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the 2020 announcement does—and does not—confirm
The announcement establishes the partnership’s announced scope and direction on June 4, 2020: AWS’s intended internal use of Slack, Slack’s stated commitment to AWS as its preferred cloud provider, the Chime SDK plan for Slack Calls, and the named integrations. It is not, by itself, confirmation of the present availability or exact implementation of each planned feature.
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