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As artificial intelligence continues to dominate the global tech agenda, two of its biggest players — Microsoft and OpenAI — are quietly reshaping the foundations of their multi-billion-dollar partnership.
According to a recent report by the Financial Times, Microsoft and OpenAI are in active negotiations to revise their existing investment agreement. While the specifics are still under wraps, insiders suggest Microsoft may give up part of its equity stake in OpenAI in exchange for long-term access to the AI company’s models and products beyond 2030. This would mark a significant update to the original agreement, which began with Microsoft’s first investment in 2019 and has since grown to over $13 billion.
This renegotiation doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s taking place against a backdrop of internal tension and transformation at OpenAI, which is currently navigating a delicate corporate restructure. The company, originally launched as a non-profit in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever, had been eyeing a full transition to a traditional for-profit model. But not everyone is on board.
Elon Musk, a co-founder and now a vocal critic of OpenAI’s direction, has been particularly outspoken. In a 2024 legal filing, Musk challenged the legality of the company’s proposed profit-driven shift, arguing it strayed too far from its founding mission. During a keynote appearance at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk didn’t hold back: “OpenAI was meant to be open source. I named it OpenAI to reflect that. Now it’s become closed source — a maximum-profit machine. It should be renamed ‘Super Closed Source AI.’”
Musk’s criticism goes beyond just words. In February 2025, a consortium of investors led by him made a bold $97.4 billion offer to acquire OpenAI outright — an offer that was quickly and firmly rejected by CEO Sam Altman. Altman, who has emerged as the central figure in OpenAI’s evolution, has stood his ground, steering the company away from Musk’s direction and toward a compromise model.
That compromise came into clearer focus on May 5, when OpenAI announced it was dropping its push for full for-profit status. Instead, the company will now operate as a public benefit corporation — a hybrid model that allows for profitability but includes a legal obligation to serve a broader social good. Importantly, this new structure will be overseen by a non-profit entity, preserving at least part of OpenAI’s original ethos.
For Microsoft, this organizational shift presents both challenges and opportunities. The tech giant has been deeply integrated into OpenAI’s operations, not just as an investor, but also as a commercial partner. Microsoft uses OpenAI’s models to power features in its products like Copilot for Office, and Azure has become the primary cloud infrastructure provider for OpenAI.
Renegotiating the investment terms is, in many ways, a strategic necessity. With the original deal expiring in a few years and OpenAI’s structure now evolving, both companies have a vested interest in locking down their long-term alignment. The outcome of these talks could influence how tightly intertwined OpenAI’s models remain with Microsoft’s products — and whether competitors will be able to license similar tools in the future.
At the same time, the high-level drama underscores a bigger theme in the AI world: the ongoing tension between innovation, control, and profit. As OpenAI’s leadership battles internal and external pressures, and as Microsoft tries to secure its position in the AI race, the rest of the industry is watching closely.
The AI arms race is heating up — and the Microsoft-OpenAI alliance may once again set the pace.
