The partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, once a cornerstone of AI development, is now showing clear signs of strain. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently remarked on the tension, highlighting OpenAI’s plans to collaborate with SoftBank and Oracle on a massive $500 billion data center project called Stargate.
This move ends Microsoft’s exclusivity as OpenAI’s cloud provider, marking a significant shift in their relationship.
Benioff noted that Microsoft’s decision to hire Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection, signals its intent to prioritize its own AI ambitions. He also mentioned past disagreements between Suleyman and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, which were reportedly apparent during public events.
These tensions reflect broader challenges in their collaboration, especially as OpenAI grows into a formidable tech entity that could rival Microsoft itself.
Microsoft initially invested $1 billion in OpenAI back in 2019, long before the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. However, OpenAI’s increasing computing needs and its push toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) appear to have strained the partnership further.
According to their agreement, exclusivity would end once OpenAI reached AGI, and Altman has suggested that milestone might already be here.
Internal friction reportedly escalated in 2023 when OpenAI introduced its own competing enterprise products. Following Altman’s brief dismissal and reinstatement as CEO, reports indicated a lack of harmony between employees. Microsoft’s subsequent hiring of Suleyman to lead its AI efforts further fueled speculation of a clash.
While Benioff speculates that Microsoft may eventually abandon OpenAI to focus on its proprietary large language model, MAI-1, it’s clear that the partnership has lost some of its initial strength.
For competitors like Salesforce, which uses OpenAI’s models and invests in rival Anthropic, these developments are viewed as favorable. Despite these challenges, both Microsoft and OpenAI remain key players in the evolving AI landscape.
