Microsoft and OpenAI change their AI partnership rules

A big tech deal just got bigger—and less restricted. Microsoft and OpenAI recently updated their long-term partnership, removing key restrictions that once gave Microsoft special control over OpenAI’s cutting-edge AI models. The old rules made Microsoft the only company allowed to sell OpenAI’s top tools, which helped boost its cloud business. But now, other tech giants like Amazon and Google can also offer those same AI models to their customers.Microsoft keeps a stake in OpenAI and stays its main cloud provider, but it no longer has an exclusive license. OpenAI gains more freedom to work with other partners, including a recent deal with Amazon that promises massive investments and cloud services. The changes also cancel a confusing rule that let Microsoft decide when OpenAI reached “artificial general intelligence, ” a vague and hard-to-measure milestone. This shake-up didn’t come out of nowhere. Both companies spent months reworking their deal after OpenAI became a profit-driven business. The new rules simplify things: Microsoft still gets paid by OpenAI, keeps its 27% ownership, and stays first choice for hosting OpenAI’s models—unless it can’t handle the job. For now, investors reacted negatively, with Microsoft’s stock dropping by about 3% the day the changes were announced.