{"id":19856,"date":"2026-04-28T10:45:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/19856\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:45:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T10:45:39","slug":"openai-breaks-off-microsoft-exclusivity-ahead-of-chatgpt-makers-planned-ipo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/19856\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI breaks off Microsoft exclusivity ahead of ChatGPT maker\u2019s planned IPO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pictured in Washington last year.Jose Luis Magana\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Microsoft MSFT-Q<\/a> and OpenAI renegotiated a pact that let Microsoft exclusively sell the ChatGPT creator\u2019s artificial intelligence models, clearing the way for the startup to forge new deals with rivals to the software and enterprise giant, including Amazon.<\/p>\n

The loosened ties between Microsoft and OpenAI, which have been expected for a while, are a sweeping change to one of the AI era\u2019s most consequential alliances. It is arguably advantageous for both companies.<\/p>\n

Microsoft shares initially fell 1.3 per cent on the news but closed largely unchanged. Alphabet closed up 1.81 per cent, while Amazon closed down 1.1 per cent.<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s early investment, totalling US$13-billion since 2019, helped pave the way for OpenAI\u2019s ascent as an AI pioneer and powered growth at its Azure cloud-computing business. Tensions between the two had been rising as OpenAI wanted the freedom to strike cloud deals with Microsoft\u2019s rivals.<\/p>\n

The renegotiated terms announced jointly will help OpenAI secure more computing power and build out an enterprise business that can compete better with Anthropic ahead of planned IPOs by both artificial intelligence companies. Microsoft will get greater certainty about its revenues from OpenAI under the deal, while OpenAI will gain newfound flexibility.<\/p>\n

Microsoft will remain OpenAI\u2019s primary cloud partner with a license to the startup\u2019s intellectual property through 2032. Microsoft also will get a guaranteed 20 per cent cut of OpenAI\u2019s revenue until 2030, though the total will now be subject to an undisclosed cap.<\/p>\n

The fresh terms remove a rider that would have allowed OpenAI to stop paying Microsoft if it achieved so-called artificial general intelligence, the point at which AI matches or surpasses human ability.<\/p>\n

In an internal memo reported by CNBC this month, OpenAI said the Microsoft partnership had been foundational but had limited the startup\u2019s enterprise reach. The memo added that demand since OpenAI launched on Amazon\u2019s cloud had been staggering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new deal with Microsoft was essential for OpenAI to be successful in the enterprise market,\u201d said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. \u201cAWS and Google Cloud enterprise customers have been limited in their ability to integrate OpenAI\u2019s products because of the exclusive relationship and will now be more likely to consider OpenAI alongside Anthropic,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

OpenAI\u2019s promise to use at least US$250-billion in Azure services by 2032 remains in place, with Microsoft having the right to make OpenAI products available first on Azure, unless Microsoft decides not to support them. Microsoft will also no longer pay OpenAI a share of Microsoft\u2019s revenue for offering OpenAI models on Azure.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk and Sam Altman head to court over OpenAI\u2019s turn to for-profit company<\/a><\/p>\n

The original deal gave Microsoft control over how OpenAI\u2019s models were run on the cloud. Microsoft could offer the broadest access to OpenAI\u2019s models, with cloud rivals such as Amazon able to offer only more limited and legally questionable ways of accessing the models.<\/p>\n

The Financial Times reported last month that Microsoft was weighing legal action against Amazon and OpenAI over a US$50-billion cloud deal that may breach its exclusive cloud tie-up. The new deal does away with that.<\/p>\n

In a post on LinkedIn, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said OpenAI\u2019s models would be available directly to developers on Amazon Web Services \u201cin the coming weeks\u201d and that the two firms would share more details at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this, builders will have even more choice to pick the right model for the right job,\u201d Jassy wrote.<\/p>\n

OpenAI has also struck deals including cloud and infrastructure agreements with Oracle and Alphabet\u2019s Google, a chip partnership with Nvidia, and a manufacturing tie-up with Apple supplier Luxshare as it pushes into consumer devices.<\/p>\n

Microsoft appears to be allowing that deal to proceed and in exchange getting certainty around a lingering risk if OpenAI asserted it had achieved AGI.<\/p>\n

Microsoft and OpenAI had restructured their tie-up in October, removing major constraints on the startup\u2019s ability to raise capital and secure computing resources.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Microsoft has been working to reduce its reliance on OpenAI by developing its own AI models and rolling out those developed by the likes of Anthropic in its products including the 365 Copilot for enterprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Microsoft\u2019s perspective, it does not need to build out all the data centre needs for OpenAI, freeing up capital for Copilot and other cloud capacity,\u201d Barclays analysts said, calling the move a positive for both Microsoft and OpenAI.<\/p>\n

Ending the exclusivity pact may help Microsoft fight antitrust scrutiny in the U.K., the U.S. and Europe over whether its OpenAI tie-up gives it an unfair advantage in the cloud and enterprise AI markets. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pictured in Washington last year.Jose Luis Magana\/The Associated Press…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1262,1249,1263,1242,1240,1264,1261,1239,1255,1256,1252,1241,1238,580,980,76,88,1254,1248,1275,1243,1244,597,1250,1251,774,1265,1247,1270,1271,1273,1268,1272,1266,157,1269,1245,1258,1259,464,1257,1267,915,134,1260,1253,465,1246,1274],"class_list":{"0":"post-19856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-openai","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-chatgpt","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-national-news","36":"tag-new-brunswick","37":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-openai","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}