Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly discussing renegotiating their multi-billion-dollar investment agreement, as the original terms are near expiration and OpenAI is undergoing major structural changes.
According to sources cited by the Financial Times, Microsoft is considering relinquishing a portion of its equity stake in OpenAI in exchange for long-term access to the AI firm’s cutting-edge technologies and models beyond 2030. Microsoft, which has poured over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019, remains the company’s most significant financial backer.
The ongoing talks come amid OpenAI’s internal restructuring efforts, which have sparked tensions among its founders and early investors. Originally established as a non-profit in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s attempt to transition into a for-profit model in 2024 triggered backlash, particularly from Musk, who questioned the legality and transparency of the shift.
In a legal filing in November 2024, Musk opposed the company’s direction, criticizing its departure from open-source principles.
“OpenAI was actually started and was meant to be open source. I named it ‘OpenAI’ after open source,”
Musk remarked at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
“now it is, in fact, closed source. It should be renamed super closed source AI for maximum profit AI,”
Tensions escalated in February 2025 when a Musk-led investor group tabled a $97.4 billion acquisition bid for OpenAI — a move firmly rejected by CEO Sam Altman.
In a surprising turn, OpenAI announced on May 5 that it would abandon the for-profit conversion and adopt a public benefit corporation structure. This hybrid model allows the company to pursue profit while maintaining a legal commitment to social good, with oversight from a non-profit board.
Meanwhile, The White House announced on April 24 that it had received more than 10,000 public submissions in response to its proposed artificial intelligence action plan. Tech powerhouses like OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft were among the contributors.
If you want to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and CoinMarketCap Community.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
