OpenAI and Microsoft loosen their billion-dollar partnership
OpenAI and Microsoft adjust their partnership: Revenue share is capped, exclusive rights are dropped, and OpenAI gains more freedom.
(Image: Henry Franklin/Shutterstock.com)
OpenAI and Microsoft are restructuring their billion-dollar AI partnership and loosening their tight grip: Microsoft's current revenue share at OpenAI is to be capped and will expire from 2030. Currently, the Windows manufacturer receives 20 percent of OpenAI's revenues. Conversely, Microsoft's payments to OpenAI will also cease. Microsoft will continue to license OpenAI's AI models until 2032 but will no longer have exclusive rights. And OpenAI will have more freedom in choosing its cloud providers.
Previously, Microsoft Azure was the primary cloud provider for OpenAI's services as part of the partnership. Microsoft Azure remains OpenAI's preferred cloud provider. However, according to the companies' announcement, OpenAI is allowed to deliver all products via any cloud provider, including Amazon and Google. The previous restriction was seen by OpenAI as an obstacle in its corporate business.
More freedom for OpenAI
A contract clause that gave Microsoft the right to terminate the agreement upon the achievement of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has also been removed -- a provision that had already played a central role in the renegotiated partnership rules from October 2025. The agreements will now continue regardless of technological progress at OpenAI.
According to reports, there have been increasing tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI in recent months. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested more than 13 billion US dollars in OpenAI and benefits from early and comprehensive access to its AI models. Recently, the business activities of both companies have increasingly overlapped. Personnel costs also reflect the cost pressure: Microsoft is cutting around 9,000 jobs, partly to finance massive investments in AI infrastructure.
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In February 2026, OpenAI entered into a billion-dollar strategic partnership with Amazon. Amazon pledged investments of up to 50 billion US dollars in OpenAI as part of a funding round. AWS will be the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI's enterprise platform Frontier, where companies can run AI agents. Amazon's cloud commitment also extends to OpenAI's competitors: Amazon is providing an additional 25 billion US dollars for Anthropic, in return for which Anthropic will book resources with AWS over ten years.
(mki)
