Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a new long-term agreement: the partnership reaches a new level
Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a new agreement that strengthens their strategic cooperation and sets the terms of interaction for the coming years. The companies will continue to work together on the development of artificial intelligence, while OpenAI remains an independent organization.
What's Known
According to the agreement, OpenAI has been transformed into a Public Benefit Corporation, and Microsoft's share is valued at approximately $135 billion (around 27%).
OpenAI will continue to use Microsoft Azure's cloud infrastructure as the primary provider for training and deploying its models. This includes access to Azure's supercomputers specifically optimized for AI tasks. In turn, OpenAI committed to purchasing Azure cloud services from Microsoft worth about $250 billion.
Microsoft, in turn, retains exclusive rights to the commercial use of OpenAI's technologies. This allows integrating models like GPT, DALL·E, and other developments into Microsoft products — from Copilot in Microsoft 365 to Azure OpenAI Service.
The companies emphasize that the new agreement is not related to changes in ownership or management. It is aimed at sustainable development, adherence to principles of safety and transparency, and expanding AI capabilities for businesses and end-users. However, OpenAI will gain more freedom: the company will be able to develop separate products jointly with other partners, while API products will remain exclusive to Azure, and non-APIs can be hosted on other cloud services as well.
Source: Microsoft
