Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (right) greets OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the OpenAI DevDay event in San Francisco on November 6, 2023.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Microsoftand OpenAI’s relationship has officially become complicated.
On Tuesday, Microsoft added an artificial intelligence startup to its list of competitors. Latest Annual ReportOver the years, the list has also included some of its mega-cap peers. Amazon, apple, Google And meta.
Microsoft has a long-standing partnership with OpenAI and serves as its exclusive cloud provider, using the company’s AI models for commercial customers and consumer products. Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest investor, having pumped a reported $13 billion into the company.
But this new casting suggests they’re venturing into each other’s territory.
In its complaint, Microsoft identified OpenAI, the developer of the chatbot ChatGPT, as a competitor in the areas of AI services and search and news advertising. Last week, OpenAI unveiled a prototype search engine called SearchGPT.
Some companies choose to pay OpenAI for access to their models, others through Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service. For those looking for an alternative to ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot is also available for the Bing search engine and Windows operating system.
An OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC that nothing has changed in the company’s relationship and that their partnership was established with the understanding that they would compete. Microsoft remains a great partner to OpenAI, the spokesperson said.
Still, this year has been full of drama.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Reportedly The company was not given an explanation before OpenAI’s board ousted CEO Sam Altman in November. After Altman was quickly reinstated, OpenAI gave a non-voting board seat to Microsoft, which relinquished that position earlier this month.
In March, Nadella brought on board Mustafa Suleiman, a co-founder of DeepMind, an AI research firm that predates OpenAI and was acquired by Google in 2014. Suleiman, who co-founded and led a startup called Inflection AI, was named CEO of a new division called Microsoft AI, and several Inflection employees joined him.
Nadella maintains a close relationship with Altman.
“One of the things I love about Sam is that he calls me every day and says, ‘We need more, we need more, we need more,'” Nadella said. The New York Times In a recent interview.
clock: OpenAI launches search engine called SearchGPT