Microsoft will no longer be OpenAIs main cloud provider

The AI ​​market is being reconfigured and now one of the most important alliances is taking on a new tone that could change the future of technological development.

The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI was idyllic. However, that is beginning to change, and the first sign of this is that the technology giant will no longer be the exclusive provider of cloud infrastructure for the Artificial Intelligence company to train and run its models, a change that could change the generative AI market as it is known until now.

According to Microsoft, the two companies have signed a new agreement under which it will have “right of first refusal” – that is, the company will be the first choice to host OpenAI’s workloads in the cloud, but if it cannot meet its needs it will be able to turn to a rival provider.

In a blog post , Microsoft said key elements of its partnership with OpenAI will remain in place through 2030, including access to the AI ​​firm's intellectual property, as well as revenue-sharing agreements and exclusivity on OpenAI's API.

However, it is important to note that when OpenAI has reached the capacity to develop AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in revenue, Microsoft will no longer have access to the company's technology, according to an agreement between the two.

This decision is also based on the fact that from OpenAI's perspective, the lack of available processing power has delayed the launch of some of its products, which has been a source of tension between the two companies.

In response to these dilemmas, Microsoft agreed to sign an agreement with Oracle under pressure from shareholders in June of last year to obtain additional capacity in its infrastructure and thus be able to continue promoting its AI services.

AI companies encourage new Stargate Project

The announcement that changes the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI came as Project Stargate was announced, a joint venture in which Arm, Microsoft, Nvidia, Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI will collaborate to invest $500 billion over the next four years to build a new AI infrastructure for companies.

“We will begin investing $100 billion immediately. This infrastructure will ensure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate enormous economic benefits for the entire world,” the company said.

SoftBank and OpenAI are the lead partners of Stargate, with SoftBank being the financial manager and OpenAI the operational manager. Masayoshi Son, CEO of the investment firm, will serve as the chairman. The other participating companies will serve as key technology partners.

The project will start in Texas, but there are also plans to create new campuses throughout the United States. The goal is to achieve General Artificial Intelligence, that is, a level of AI capable of performing any intellectual task that a person can perform.

“We all look forward to continuing to build and develop AI (and in particular, artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of all humanity. We believe this next step is a critical step along the way and will enable creative people to discover how to use AI to improve humanity,” the company concluded.