Amid recent market rumors that OpenAI has secured substantial funding and formed a deep partnership with Amazon, Microsoft has officially responded today, reiterating that the partnership between the two companies remains strong and central. Microsoft emphasized that any industry announcements today will not alter the previously agreed-upon terms of their collaboration.

Since their collaboration began in 2019, Microsoft's alliance with OpenAI has become one of the most closely watched partnerships in the tech industry. In response to speculation about "competition and separation," Microsoft's statement clearly signals confidence to the market.

Azure Remains the Only "Designated" Cloud Platform

In the area of computing power and distribution, Microsoft reconfirmed Azure's exclusive position. The statement indicated that Azure remains the sole cloud provider for all stateless OpenAI APIs. This means:

  • Distribution rights remain unchanged: API services purchased by developers through Microsoft or OpenAI are hosted entirely on Azure.

  • Third-party calls: Even if OpenAI collaborates with other third parties such as Amazon, any stateless API calls must be executed within the Azure environment.

  • Core product integration: OpenAI's own core products (including the latest Frontier series) will continue to be built upon Azure's global infrastructure.

Intellectual Property and Revenue Sharing Remain Unchanged

Microsoft clearly stated that the relationship regarding intellectual property (IP) remains unchanged, with Microsoft continuing to hold exclusive licensing and access rights to OpenAI's models and products.

At the same time, the existing revenue-sharing arrangement has not been adjusted. Notably, Microsoft revealed that this revenue-sharing agreement already covers potential revenue sharing from OpenAI's collaborations with other cloud providers. In other words, the more OpenAI earns, the more stable Microsoft's returns as a major investor will be.

Both Allies and Independent Explorers

Regarding OpenAI's partnership with Amazon, Microsoft showed a generous attitude, stating that such a scenario was anticipated in their early agreements, and Microsoft is pleased with it.

The two companies stated that the design of their cooperation agreement was intended to allow both companies to maintain close collaboration while also having the space to independently explore new opportunities. Currently, the process for determining general artificial intelligence (AGI) and the contractual definitions remain unchanged.