OpenAI and Microsoft have agreed to cap total revenue-sharing payments between them at $38 billion, The Information reported on Monday, citing a person with knowledge of the arrangement, as the two companies complete a renegotiation of their landmark partnership that could pave the way for OpenAI’s public offering as early as the end of this year.
What the $38 Billion Cap Means for OpenAI and Microsoft
The revenue-sharing cap emerges from a contract renegotiation completed last month that also created room for OpenAI to forge new partnerships with companies including Amazon and Google. Microsoft confirmed in April that revenue-sharing payments from OpenAI would continue through 2030 at the same previously agreed percentage, subject to an overall cap, the terms of which The Information has now placed at $38 billion.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. OpenAI and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
The payment cap could help OpenAI present a stronger long-term pitch to investors as it works toward a public offering, which some executives have said could take place as soon as the end of this year, according to The Information’s report.
Microsoft’s $13 Billion Bet and Its Extraordinary Returns
Microsoft’s early investment in OpenAI, totalling approximately $13 billion since 2019, helped establish OpenAI as a pioneer in artificial intelligence and powered significant growth at the Windows maker’s Azure cloud-computing business. The scale of that early wager, and its returns, came into sharp relief during court proceedings on Monday.
Microsoft targeted a $92 billion return from its large early investments in OpenAI, a goal included in Microsoft planning documents from early 2023 and disclosed in federal court in Oakland, California, where a jury is hearing Elon Musk’s high-profile case against OpenAI and Microsoft.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella testified that the investments “worked out well because we took the risk.” Since Microsoft’s early backing, OpenAI’s valuation has skyrocketed to $852 billion as of the end of March. As of October, Microsoft’s stake in the company was valued at approximately $135 billion. As part of OpenAI’s restructuring last year, Microsoft received a 27 per cent ownership stake in the startup.
The Musk Lawsuit: What It Alleges and How OpenAI and Microsoft Have Responded
The court proceedings in Oakland stem from a 2024 lawsuit in which Elon Musk accused fellow OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of abandoning the startup’s founding mission as a nonprofit to benefit humanity when it took steps to operate as a for-profit business. Musk, the world’s richest person, alleged that Microsoft aided that betrayal.
OpenAI, Altman, Brockman and Microsoft have all denied any wrongdoing. In their defence, they have characterised Musk’s claims as baseless harassment aimed at boosting his own artificial intelligence startup, xAI, which launched in 2023.
A Partnership That Has Grown More Complicated Over Time
What began as a straightforward investor-startup relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI has grown considerably more complex. The two companies have at times squabbled over the terms of their partnership and have increasingly moved into more direct competition with one another as both deepen their investments in artificial intelligence products and services.
The renegotiated contract and the newly disclosed revenue cap represent the latest attempt by both parties to redefine the boundaries of a relationship that has reshaped the global technology landscape since Microsoft made its first investment in OpenAI in 2019.