Over the past few months, Microsoft and OpenAI's multi-billion-dollar partnership has appeared to be fraying, with both companies striving to emancipate themselves from an overreliance on each other for next-gen AI models, funding, and computing power.
While it is impossible to predict the direction the once-best "tech bromance" will take, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently cleared the air, admitting that their partnership is evolving and changing, but it still remains strong (via Bloomberg).
Speaking to The Circuit's Emily Chang, Nadella indicated:
“Any company that has gone from being a research lab to one of the most successful product companies of this age — obviously things have to change for them and for us and in the context of the partnership.”
I've covered multiple reports suggesting a bit of friction between Microsoft and OpenAI, with some outrightly suggesting that there might be an impending fallout in a $13.5 billion rearview mirror.
This can be partly attributed to OpenAI's $500 billion Stargate project, designed to facilitate the construction of data centers across the United States for the ChatGPT maker's AI advances.
Around the same time, Microsoft lost its exclusive cloud provider status for OpenAI but retained the right of refusal. OpenAI had previously complained that Microsoft's computing power wasn't meeting its needs and that it was losing its grip on the coveted AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) benchmark.
A separate report indicated that Microsoft pulled the plug on two mega data center deals because it didn't want to provide additional support for ChatGPT training. Interestingly, Sam Altman indicated that OpenAI was no longer compute-constrained.
Despite the back and forth between the companies, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company is thrilled to have access to OpenAI's technology. “Having that multifaceted partnership is what we are really focused on,” Nadella indicated. “Why would any one of us want to go upset that?”
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff predicted that Microsoft won't use OpenAI in the future, in line with the tech giant's admission that GPT-4 is too expensive and slow to meet consumer needs. Microsoft's CEO has a different vision for the partnership, and despite the Stargate project, he hopes to partner with OpenAI for decades in a variety of different ways.
Nadella foresees OpenAI working with other partners in the future. The ChatGPT maker is already working with SoftBank and Oracle to bolster its AI advances. In a previous episode of The Circuit, Sam Altman indicated that OpenAI gets to do a lot of great work with Microsoft, "but I think this is more than any one company can deliver."
In conclusion, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella indicated that he's happy with OpenAI's business model because the AI lab gets most of its computing power from the software giant. “Every day that ChatGPT succeeds is a fantastic day for Microsoft,” Nadella added. Either way, Microsoft apparently still makes some money every time ChatGPT is used.
