On Monday, Microsoft and OpenAI revealed that they have, once more, revised the agreement connecting the two firms. While some comments on X portray it as a triumph for the ChatGPT creator over the Windows powerhouse, both parties are leaving as beneficiaries.
Crucially, the new agreement addresses a concern that had been looming over OpenAI since it established its up-to-$50-billion contract with Amazon.
Under this fresh agreement, rather than Microsoft having sole access to all of OpenAI’s products and intellectual property until the fateful day when OpenAI achieves AGI, the collaboration now includes a clear timeline. This contract grants Microsoft a nonexclusive license to OpenAI’s IP for models and products until 2032.
The two firms continue to refer to Microsoft as OpenAI’s “primary cloud partner,” signifying that the majority of OpenAI’s cloud services will likely be provided by Azure for the next six years, even as OpenAI works swiftly to establish its own data centers with different collaborators. In October, OpenAI agreed to procure an additional $250 billion worth of Microsoft’s cloud services. This message serves to inform Microsoft shareholders that OpenAI will remain a significant customer of Azure.
OpenAI products will launch “first on Azure, unless Microsoft cannot and opts not to facilitate the required capabilities,” according to the companies. However, importantly, “OpenAI can now offer all its products to clientele across any cloud provider.”
Again, the term “first” is not explicitly defined in this announcement, whether it indicates exclusivity on Azure only for a limited period or if Microsoft will simply be one of the vendors providing OpenAI’s latest products.
Yet the most critical aspect of this term: It mitigates the risk that Microsoft could pursue legal action against OpenAI concerning the AI lab’s agreement with Amazon.
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To summarize that complexity: In February, OpenAI announced that Amazon was investing up to $50 billion in the model creator, composed of a $15 billion initial investment and an additional $35 billion “in the coming months when certain conditions are fulfilled,” the companies mentioned, without detailing what those conditions entailed.
In return, OpenAI committed to co-develop a “stateful runtime technology” on AWS Bedrock (the AWS service that offers various AI models and services). Stateful runtime is the technology that enables AI agents to retain tasks and contexts over extended periods.
OpenAI also guaranteed that AWS would hold exclusive rights to present OpenAI’s new agent-creation tool, Frontier. And therein lies the issue.
OpenAI’s initial deal with Microsoft barred OpenAI from exclusively selling Frontier on AWS, and likely hindered AWS from offering it at all.
Although Microsoft had previously consented to allow OpenAI to operate certain select products, like the consumer ChatGPT, on alternative cloud providers, it kept exclusive rights to any OpenAI product accessed via an API, such as Frontier.
Indeed, on the exact day that OpenAI revealed its AWS agreement, Microsoft publicly denied the AWS-exclusive stipulations, stating (emphasis Microsoft’s):
Microsoft upholds its exclusive license and access to intellectual property across OpenAI models and products. … Azure continues to be the exclusive cloud provider for stateless OpenAI APIs. … Any stateless API interactions with OpenAI models arising from a partnership between OpenAI and any third party — including Amazon — will be hosted on Azure. … OpenAI’s first party products, including Frontier, will remain hosted on Azure.
Microsoft also highlighted that its conditions would remain in force until OpenAI reached AGI. The Financial Times noted that Microsoft even considered legal action if it had to enforce these agreement terms.
Consequently, the new consensus eliminates Microsoft’s exclusive rights and resolves the AWS legal risk. In a post on X, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy applauded the agreement, stating that it meant OpenAI’s models would become accessible to customers on AWS Bedrock.
While this arrangement is advantageous for OpenAI, Microsoft also gained certain benefits. The revised agreement now permits Microsoft to cease paying a revenue share to OpenAI, whereas OpenAI will continue to contribute a revenue share to Microsoft until 2030, albeit now subject to a limit.
Determining the exact cash flow to Microsoft is challenging, but it’s likely in the billions. Last quarter, Microsoft reported earnings of $7.5 billion in a single quarter from its investment in OpenAI.
Interestingly, Microsoft continues to be a major stakeholder in OpenAI, owning around 27% of the for-profit company, as stated in October. It benefits financially from OpenAI’s expansion, including the sales it generates on AWS.
The drawback, of course, is that Microsoft misses out on any additional cloud services it might have sold due to an exclusive arrangement with OpenAI.
That may be inconsequential. Just as OpenAI has been courting Microsoft’s largest competitors, Microsoft has established a new, friendly relationship with OpenAI adversary Anthropic, allowing the cloud giant to employ its Claude AI to enhance agentic products.
The primary beneficiaries in this scenario are enterprises, which can select their models and clouds while the giants compete with one another to serve their needs.
Here’s a timeline of the recent developments in Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI:
In October, Microsoft and OpenAI revealed a new agreement designed to assist OpenAI in countering the lawsuit from Elon Musk regarding its corporate structure, which enables OpenAI to operate non-API-accessed products on different clouds.
In November, OpenAI and Amazon signed their first multiyear agreement, where OpenAI committed to $38 billion worth of AWS cloud services.
In February, Amazon announced an investment of up to $50 billion in OpenAI, contingent upon “certain conditions,” including the exclusive tech development and hosting arrangement for Frontier and stateful technology. On the same day, Microsoft denied that AWS would possess exclusive rights to that technology.
In March, the Financial Times reported that Microsoft was contemplating legal measures.
In April, OpenAI and Microsoft disclosed a new agreement, outlining a calendar-end date for their exclusive partnership and allowing OpenAI to operate all of its products on other clouds. Microsoft no longer has to pay revenue shares to OpenAI, and it retains its status as a significant shareholder in the firm.
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