The New York Times has released a report based on interviews with 19 employees at OpenAI and Microsoft regarding their collaboration on a project. Despite Microsoft’s investment of up to $13 billion in OpenAI over the past 5 years, allowing Microsoft to utilize AI technology in their products, tensions seem to be rising between the two companies.
The report indicates that the conflict between the two companies escalated after the ousting of CEO Sam Altman, prompting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to reassess their relationship with OpenAI and consider reducing their reliance on the company. OpenAI has been negotiating with Microsoft for a reduction in AI processing resources and requesting a higher allocation. At the same time, Microsoft believes they should develop a standalone AI department and reduce dependence on technology from OpenAI, leading to strained negotiations between the two companies. Microsoft also seems reluctant to increase their investment in OpenAI.
The situation worsened in March when Microsoft spent $650 million to acquire Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Inflection AI and co-founder of DeepMind, along with several employees from Inflection AI to strengthen their own AI division. This move was met with dissatisfaction from some OpenAI executives, as reports suggest that there was a meeting where Suleyman stated that OpenAI employees couldn’t develop technology for Microsoft fast enough, while OpenAI accused some Microsoft employees of downloading software from OpenAI without following proper security protocols.
Another incident that highlighted the strained relationship between the two companies occurred in June when Microsoft granted OpenAI permission to use AI processing resources from Oracle at a better rate than what Microsoft offered. This further demonstrates the shifting dynamics between the two companies.
Ultimately, the report reveals that despite other companies like MGX, SoftBank, NVIDIA, and even Apple expressing interest in investing in OpenAI, they have refrained from doing so as OpenAI aims to reduce its reliance on Microsoft. The New York Times also uncovered a potential future issue within the collaboration agreement between OpenAI and Microsoft regarding access to advanced artificial general intelligence (AGI) technology. OpenAI stated that if they develop AGI capabilities comparable to human intelligence, Microsoft would immediately lose access to all of OpenAI’s technology to prevent misuse. The decision regarding AGI development lies solely with OpenAI’s board.
TLDR: Tensions between OpenAI and Microsoft have been escalating due to disagreements over AI resource allocation and a potential future conflict regarding access to advanced technology.
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