Microsoft ends OpenAI exclusivity
- Microsoft and OpenAI rewrote their pact on April 27, ending Microsoft’s exclusive license to OpenAI models and letting OpenAI sell products across rival clouds. - Microsoft keeps a nonexclusive OpenAI license through 2032, while OpenAI continues paying Microsoft 20% of revenue through 2030, subject to a cap. - The rewrite clears OpenAI to expand on Amazon Web Services and Google while Azure stays its primary cloud partner. (reuters.com)
Microsoft and OpenAI have rewritten their partnership, ending Microsoft’s exclusive rights to OpenAI’s models and products. (reuters.com) (blogs.microsoft.com) The new agreement says Microsoft remains OpenAI’s primary cloud partner, and OpenAI products will still ship first on Azure unless Microsoft cannot or chooses not to support the needed capabilities. (blogs.microsoft.com) OpenAI can now serve all of its products to customers across any cloud provider, including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Microsoft’s license to OpenAI intellectual property now runs through 2032 and is no longer exclusive. (cnbc.com) (blogs.microsoft.com) The money changed too. Microsoft will no longer pay a revenue share to OpenAI, while OpenAI will keep paying Microsoft through 2030 at the same percentage, subject to a total cap. (blogs.microsoft.com) (cnbc.com) CNBC reported that percentage is 20%, citing a person familiar with the agreement. Reuters reported the cap is undisclosed and that the revised terms remove the old rider tied to OpenAI reaching artificial general intelligence. (cnbc.com) (reuters.com) The rewrite resolves a conflict that surfaced after OpenAI signed an Amazon deal worth up to $50 billion in February 2026. That deal included AWS rights around OpenAI’s Frontier agent tool and related runtime technology. (techcrunch.com) Microsoft’s 2019 bet on OpenAI has totaled more than $13 billion, and Reuters reported the new arrangement preserves Microsoft’s economics while giving OpenAI more room to win enterprise customers outside Azure. (cnbc.com) (reuters.com) Reuters also reported that OpenAI’s commitment to buy at least $250 billion in Azure services by 2032 remains in place. TechCrunch said that term signals Azure is still expected to host most of OpenAI’s cloud workload. (reuters.com) (techcrunch.com) For customers, the practical change is simple: OpenAI’s models are no longer tied to one cloud seller. For Microsoft, the partnership is still intact, but it is no longer exclusive. (blogs.microsoft.com) (reuters.com)
