OpenAI free to sell models on AWS, Google Cloud
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- OpenAI's revised Microsoft pact ends its effective cloud exclusivity, freeing it to sell AI models through any provider including AWS and potentially Google Cloud.
- Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced OpenAI's models will be available on AWS Bedrock "in the coming weeks," with more details at a San Francisco event AWS is hosting Tuesday.
- The rewritten deal scraps the AGI trigger — a clause both companies found "too vague" that would have altered their relationship upon OpenAI declaring it achieved AGI — and introduces an undisclosed cap on Microsoft's cut of OpenAI revenue.
- Microsoft keeps 20% of OpenAI revenue through 2030, holds non-exclusive IP rights to OpenAI's products (not research) through 2032, and OpenAI must still ship new models to Azure first.
- Google is "taking a close look" at the revised terms for a possible OpenAI distribution deal on Google Cloud, according to a source familiar with the situation.
- The multi-cloud flexibility could help OpenAI land enterprise customers on their existing infrastructure and ease investor concerns ahead of its expected IPO later this year.
Why it matters: OpenAI's enterprise growth now depends on meeting customers on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud rather than forcing a Microsoft allegiance — and AWS is already the first major beneficiary with Bedrock availability weeks away. Microsoft preserves a 20% revenue share through 2030 and first-ship rights to Azure, so the financial and technical relationship remains intact even as the cloud-exclusive structure dissolves.
