Microsoft, OpenAI End Exclusivity in Amended Deal
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- Microsoft and OpenAI amended their deal so OpenAI can serve all its products across any cloud provider, ending Microsoft's exclusive access to OpenAI's technology and IP
- Microsoft will no longer pay a revenue share to OpenAI, though Tom's Hardware reports Microsoft will continue to receive revenue share through 2030
- OpenAI's roughly $50 billion Amazon deal was a key pressure point, with TechCrunch framing the amendment as resolving Microsoft's legal peril over that arrangement
- PitchBook reads the timing as tied to OpenAI's IPO push, writing that the amendment loosens Microsoft's grip ahead of a public listing
- Decrypt and DatacenterDynamics note the revised deal also drops the AGI clause and caps Microsoft's revenue payments, reshaping the original 2019 partnership architecture
- Microsoft shares slipped on the news, per the Economic Times and ZeroHedge headlines in Techmeme's coverage cluster
- 9to5Google's headline ("openai-microsoft-deal-update-google") signals the deal opens doors for Google Cloud alongside Amazon as a future OpenAI partner
Why it matters: OpenAI gains multi-cloud freedom ahead of an IPO push, with its roughly $50B Amazon deal and likely future Google Cloud relationship now unblocked; Microsoft loses exclusivity, stops paying revenue share to OpenAI (though it keeps receiving share through 2030 per Tom's Hardware), and saw its stock dip on the announcement, per the Economic Times headline.
