Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider

23/05/2025

Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider | TechCrunch

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Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider | TechCrunch

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Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider
========================================================

[Kyle Wiggers](https://techcrunch.com/author/kyle-wiggers/)

3:18 PM PST · January 21, 2025

Microsoft was once the exclusive provider of data center infrastructure for OpenAI to train and run its AI models. No longer.

Coinciding with the announcement of Stargate, [OpenAI’s massive new AI infrastructure deal with SoftBank, Oracle, and others](https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/21/openai-teams-up-with-softbank-and-oracle-on-50b-data-center-project/), Microsoft says it has signed a new agreement with OpenAI that gives it “right of first refusal” on new OpenAI cloud computing capacity. That means that, going forward, Microsoft gets first choice over whether to host OpenAI’s AI workloads in the cloud — but if Microsoft can’t meet its needs, OpenAI can go to a rival cloud provider.

“OpenAI recently made a new, large Azure commitment that will continue to support all OpenAI products as well as training,” Microsoft said in a [blog post](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/01/21/microsoft-and-openai-evolve-partnership-to-drive-the-next-phase-of-ai/). “To further support OpenAI, Microsoft has approved OpenAI’s ability to build additional capacity, primarily for research and training of models.”

OpenAI has[blamed](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/31/openai-ceo-sam-altman-says-lack-of-compute-is-delaying-the-companys-products/)a lack of available compute for delaying its products, and compute capacity has reportedly become a source of[tension](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/technology/microsoft-openai-partnership-deal.html)between the AI company and Microsoft, its close collaborator and major investor. In June, Microsoft, under [shareholder pressure](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-eases-away-from-microsoft-data-centers?rc=mshudk), permitted OpenAI to [ink a deal](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/12/24177188/openai-oracle-ai-chips-microsoft) with Oracle for additional capacity.

In the blog post, Microsoft reiterated that “key elements” of its long-standing partnership with OpenAI remain in place through 2030, including its access to OpenAI’s IP, revenue-sharing arrangements, and exclusivity on OpenAI’s APIs.

That assumes, of course, that OpenAI doesn’t achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) under the two companies’[agreed-upon definition](https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/26/microsoft-and-openai-have-a-financial-definition-of-agi-report/)before then. When OpenAI develops AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits, Microsoft will lose access to the company’s technology, according to a reported agreement between the firms.

OpenAI is [said to be considering](https://www.ft.com/content/2c14b89c-f363-4c2a-9dfc-13023b6bce65) nullifying the agreement in a possible bid to secure more Microsoft funding.

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“The OpenAI API is exclusive to Azure, runs on Azure and is also available through the Azure OpenAI Service,” the blog post reads. “This agreement means customers benefit from having access to leading models on Microsoft platforms and direct from OpenAI.”

We’ve reached out to OpenAI and Microsoft for more information and will update this post if we hear back.

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Kyle Wiggers

AI Editor

[](https://twitter.com/Kyle_L_Wiggers)[](https://bsky.app/profile/kylelwiggers.bsky.social)[](https://techhub.social/@kylelwiggers)[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-lee-wiggers/)

Kyle Wiggers is TechCrunch’s AI Editor. His writing has appeared in VentureBeat and Digital Trends, as well as a range of gadget blogs including Android Police, Android Authority, Droid-Life, and XDA-Developers. He lives in Manhattan with his partner, a music therapist.

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Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider

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