- Microsoft is no longer the only cloud infrastructure provider for OpenAI
- Still OpenAI’s largest investor, Microsoft retains right of first refusal
- Stargate project launched by OpenAI for American infrastructure
Microsoft has confirmed that it is no longer the exclusive cloud provider to ChatGPT maker OpenAI, despite plans to continue to be the AI startup’s primary data center infrastructure provider.
The company confirmed in a statement that there would be “changes to exclusivity on new capabilities” but that it would have the right of first refusal.
As part of this reshuffle, OpenAI has partnered with, among others, the Japanese SoftBank and the American Oracle, to meet its computing needs.
OpenAI divides its infrastructure between Microsoft and others
Opening the doors to other providers will mark a significant change since the two companies entered into a partnership in 2019, more than three years before ChatGPT’s public launch.
“Key elements of our partnership remain in place for the duration of our contract through 2030, with our access to OpenAI intellectual property, our revenue sharing agreements and our exclusivity on OpenAI APIs,” Microsoft confirmed.
This means that, for at least five years, Microsoft will have the rights to OpenAI models to power its Copilot AI tools. This also means that OpenAI’s API will be exclusive to Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.
Following an investment of approximately $14 billion in the AI company, Microsoft has confirmed that it remains “a major investor in OpenAI.”
He also recalled that OpenAI recently made a “new and significant Azure commitment” that will continue to support all of its products, as well as training.
The same day, OpenAI announced details of its Stargate project, designed to support new AI infrastructure in the United States. SoftBank and OpenAI will be the main partners in the project, with Oracle and MGX also appearing as backers – note the omission of Microsoft.
Stargate’s first technology partners will include Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle and OpenAI.
The project will culminate in $500 billion in investments over four years; $100 billion has already been set aside for Stargate.
