HomeSatya Nadella ready to exploit new OpenAI deal
On Wednesday, a Wall Street analyst asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella directly how the revised OpenAI partnership would affect the company’s financials.
Nadella described the new agreement as a win for everyone. “We feel good about our partnership with OpenAI. I’m always very focused on any partnership and ensuring that there’s a win-win construct at all times. I mean, that’s how you can remain good partners.”
He stressed that Microsoft still has access to OpenAI’s intellectual property, including its models and agent products, but no longer has to pay OpenAI for them.
Referring to royalty-free access to OpenAI’s most advanced AI through 2032, Nadella said: “We have a frontier model, with all the IP rights that we will have access to all the way to ’32 and we fully plan to exploit it.”
Plenty of speculation suggested the new deal, which strips Microsoft of exclusive access to OpenAI’s technology, would erode its AI edge. OpenAI immediately announced exclusive AI products with Microsoft’s largest cloud rival, Amazon, complete with joint interviews featuring Sam Altman and AWS CEO Mark Garman.
Nadella brushed aside those concerns. During Microsoft’s Wednesday earnings report—the final full quarter under the previous deal—the company disclosed that its AI business had surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, a 123% year-over-year increase.
On that point, Nadella noted that Microsoft generates revenue from OpenAI through other channels. “They’re a large customer of ours, not just on the AI accelerator side, but also on all the other compute sides. And so we want to serve them well. And then, of course, we have our equity.”
This refers to OpenAI’s commitment to purchase over $250 billion in Microsoft cloud services, along with Microsoft’s 27% stake in OpenAI.
Finally, Nadella emphasized that enterprises often prefer to use multiple AI models, so OpenAI’s relative importance in the industry—especially to businesses—has narrowed compared to the past.
“We offer the broadest selection of models of any hyperscaler, so customers can choose the right model for the right workload across OpenAI, Anthropic, open source, and more. Over 10,000 customers have used more than one model,” he said.
Time will tell whether this deal truly benefits both sides. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to deliver cloud growth and profits.
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On Wednesday, a Wall Street analyst asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella directly how the revised OpenAI partnership would affect the company’s financials.
Nadella described the new agreement as a win for everyone. “We feel good about our partnership with OpenAI. I’m always very focused on any partnership and ensuring that there’s a win-win construct at all times. I mean, that’s how you can remain good partners.”
He stressed that Microsoft still has access to OpenAI’s intellectual property, including its models and agent products, but no longer has to pay OpenAI for them.
Referring to royalty-free access to OpenAI’s most advanced AI through 2032, Nadella said: “We have a frontier model, with all the IP rights that we will have access to all the way to ’32 and we fully plan to exploit it.”
Plenty of speculation suggested the new deal, which strips Microsoft of exclusive access to OpenAI’s technology, would erode its AI edge. OpenAI immediately announced exclusive AI products with Microsoft’s largest cloud rival, Amazon, complete with joint interviews featuring Sam Altman and AWS CEO Mark Garman.
Nadella brushed aside those concerns. During Microsoft’s Wednesday earnings report—the final full quarter under the previous deal—the company disclosed that its AI business had surpassed an annual revenue run rate of $37 billion, a 123% year-over-year increase.
On that point, Nadella noted that Microsoft generates revenue from OpenAI through other channels. “They’re a large customer of ours, not just on the AI accelerator side, but also on all the other compute sides. And so we want to serve them well. And then, of course, we have our equity.”
This refers to OpenAI’s commitment to purchase over $250 billion in Microsoft cloud services, along with Microsoft’s 27% stake in OpenAI.
Finally, Nadella emphasized that enterprises often prefer to use multiple AI models, so OpenAI’s relative importance in the industry—especially to businesses—has narrowed compared to the past.
“We offer the broadest selection of models of any hyperscaler, so customers can choose the right model for the right workload across OpenAI, Anthropic, open source, and more. Over 10,000 customers have used more than one model,” he said.
Time will tell whether this deal truly benefits both sides. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to deliver cloud growth and profits.
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OpenAI rebutted Apple’s trade secret allegations on Tuesday, arguing the lawsuit is unfounded.“We take these claims seriously but see no evidence supporting them,” OpenAI stated, as reported by Bloomberg’s Ed Ludlow on X. “We support fair competition
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