Microsoft and OpenAI have amended their partnership to reduce their dependence on each other amid an escalating global artificial intelligence race, the companies said on Monday. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest financial backer, holds a stake in the start-up valued at more than $135 billion.
The tech giant has long held exclusive rights to offer OpenAI’s technology to other customers on its cloud computing service, a major draw for its business.
But the companies’ relationship became strained as OpenAI grew from a small nonprofit research lab to a start-up expecting a huge initial public offering as soon as this year.
OpenAI has needed more computing power than Microsoft could readily or wanted to provide, and it has sought to build partnerships with other cloud computing providers as it races against the rival A. I. start-up Anthropic and others.
Under the new agreement announced on Monday, Microsoft maintains access to license OpenAI’s A. I. technology through 2032, but it will no longer have exclusive rights to those licenses. That will allow OpenAI to partner with other companies more freely and seek business from more sources.
OpenAI will lose some of its financial security because it will no longer receive a share of revenue from Microsoft when the tech giant uses the start-up’s technologies.
It agreed to release its technology on Microsoft’s cloud services first, the companies said, unless “Microsoft cannot and chooses not to support the necessary capabilities. ” The start-up then has the right to release products on other cloud services.
The ability to partner with other tech companies is potentially valuable for OpenAI. A flurry of deal making in recent months has drawn ties between A. I.
labs and the biggest tech companies, each looking to expand where they can reach customers and get the computing power necessary to develop and run A. I. systems. Just last week, Anthropic secured up to $65 billion in additional investment, plus enormous computing deals, with Amazon and Google.
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