There are observations that there are signs of a strain in the cooperative relationship between Microsoft (MS) and Open AI.
On the 17th (local time), the New York Times (NYT), citing multiple anonymous sources, said that OpenAI is trying to change the terms of its contract with Microsoft and that Microsoft is trying to reduce the risk of failure to invest in OpenAI, adding that the cooperation that has lasted for five years It was reported that the relationship was in the ‘reality testing’ stage.
According to interviews with 19 sources, the cooperative relationship between the two companies, which CEO Altman once evaluated as ‘the best bromance in the tech industry’, was affected by Open AI’s financial pressure, differences of opinion between employees of both companies, and concerns about the stability of the relationship. It’s starting to get worse.
Multiple sources cited the Open AI board’s attempt to oust CEO Sam Altman in November last year as a key opportunity to reset the relationship.
With Microsoft already investing $13 billion (approximately 17.8 trillion won) in Open AI, CEO Altman requested billions of dollars of investment from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last fall. CEO Nadella initially had an intention to make additional investments, but was shocked after the ouster attempt and decided to reexamine the decision. Open AI continued to request additional funds and computing power, but did not change its position.
Microsoft became concerned about the AI business’ over-reliance on Open AI. Accordingly, Microsoft spent more than $650 million (approximately 900 billion won) last March to hire employees from Inflection, a competitor of Open AI, and Inflection founder Mustafa Suleiman is currently in charge of Microsoft’s AI technology-related business.
However, the Open AI side was angry, and Suleiman also raised his voice in a recent video conference, saying that Open AI was not quickly transferring new technology to Microsoft, exposing the disharmony between the two sides.
OpenAI is under financial pressure and is dissatisfied with the terms of its contract, which required it to purchase computing power only from Microsoft instead of receiving large-scale investments from Microsoft. OpenAI repeatedly attempted to renegotiate last year to allow other companies to purchase computing power.
OpenAI is said to have exceptionally purchased $10 billion (approximately KRW 13.7 trillion) worth of computing power from Oracle with Microsoft’s consent last June, and the two companies have been negotiating a future contract in recent weeks, but the terms of the contract are not yet known. It’s a state.
NYT reports that it is unclear how much the relationship between the two companies will change, but Microsoft is satisfied with the current situation as it can continue to benefit from the development of Open AI technology and can continue to sell computing power to Open AI, while Open AI says that Microsoft He pointed out that he was dissatisfied with the lack of sufficient computing power.
There is a clause in the contract between the two companies that states that if OpenAI builds general-purpose artificial intelligence (AGI), Microsoft will lose its technical access to OpenAI, and OpenAI is known to be seeking to renew the contract terms based on this.
Reporter Lee Hwi-Kyung ddehg@wowtv.co.kr
