Microsoft will no longer be the exclusive provider of new cloud computing capacity to OpenAI — a significant development in their partnership that allows OpenAI to collaborate with Oracle and others on the $500 billion Stargate AI project announced by the companies Tuesday with President Trump at the White House.
In a blog post, Microsoft attempted to minimize the repercussions of this change, stating that the essential elements of its involvement as an investor and partner in the ChatGPT maker remain unchanged. This includes its exclusivity on the OpenAI API within Microsoft Azure, and its entitlement to utilize OpenAI technology in products such as Microsoft Copilot.
The adjustment in their relationship grants Microsoft the right of first refusal, instead of outright exclusivity, to supply new AI and cloud capacity to OpenAI. This is part of “a new, large Azure commitment that will continue to support all OpenAI products as well as training,” according to the Microsoft post.
“This new agreement also includes changes to the exclusivity on new capacity, moving to a model where Microsoft has a right of first refusal (ROFR),” it continues. “To further support OpenAI, Microsoft has approved OpenAI’s ability to build additional capacity, primarily for research and training of models.”
The Stargate project is a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank aimed at creating new AI infrastructure in the United States.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son unveiled the new joint venture with President Trump on Tuesday, marking the first full day of his second term in office.
The initial investment will be $100 billion, with an outlook of reaching $500 billion over the next four years, making it the largest AI infrastructure project ever undertaken. Microsoft, Nvidia, and Arm are also technology partners in this initiative.
OpenAI holds an equity stake, governance rights, and operational control in the Stargate venture, Reuters reports, referencing a source familiar with the deal.
