Microsoft Rethinks Its $13B Bet on OpenAI

Microsoft has never been very affectionate towards bitcoin and its digital cousins. The Redmond giant prefers to bet on other stars: quantum computing, cloud solutions, and above all, AI. Speaking of artificial intelligence, a new chapter seems to be unfolding between Microsoft and OpenAI. Not a breakup. Rather a strategic overhaul. The discussions around their partnership are shaking the tech sphere like a gust in a server desert.

A new era for AI: OpenAI revises its contract with Microsoft

Since 2019, Microsoft has been OpenAI’s guardian angel, injecting $13 billion into the structure. Today, the two partners are discussing a renegotiation of the pact. Objective? To offer OpenAI, already valued at $300 billion, more freedom to raise funds or consider a public offering.

The alliance does not falter, it evolves. Microsoft wants to maintain exclusivity of access to OpenAI models on Azure. A kind of technological sovereignty clause. As Reuters reports, the intention is clear:

Allow OpenAI to raise additional funds while keeping Microsoft in a strategic position.

Behind the scenes, a phrase rings out: “Microsoft has priority access to developed models, but OpenAI wants to broaden its horizon“.

AI is no longer a gadget: it is becoming a lever of industrial dominance. And Redmond intends to secure its stake.

Long-term goals: between IPO, governance, and rising power

OpenAI is considering restructuring into a Public Benefit Corporation. The idea? To combine social mission and the ability to raise capital. Unlike a traditional company, a PBC can protect its original mission while seeking massive funding, a model that could profoundly change the game for AI.

Sam Altman wants to stay in control. The parent nonprofit entity would remain majority stakeholder. But some view this evolution critically. Elon Musk, for instance, believes that “the initial idealism is diluted in finance“.

If they hit the projections for 2030, 20% of the revenue will be $97 billion, so the total return for MSFT would be about $200 billion for a $13.75 billion investment.

The targeted financial firepower is impressive:

• OpenAI aims to raise up to $40 billion;
• The valuation could climb to $300 billion;
• Microsoft owns 49% of OpenAI’s for-profit branch.

All this for what? To extend its lead in a global AI war. And, above all, to ensure the technological dream does not turn into a Big Brother nightmare.

OpenAI and Microsoft: A tech duo with systemic impact on AI

What Microsoft is building with OpenAI goes beyond press releases. Already in February, the company had strengthened its Azure infrastructure, specifically to host GPT-4.5 and GPT-5. This is not experimentation: it is an industrial commitment.

Microsoft’s goal? To offer computing power capable of supporting the most demanding models. This requires upgraded data centers, a redesign of storage, and optimization of neural networks.

Internally, we have reached the GPT-4.5 standard, and moving to the GPT-5.5 standard will not require 100 times more computation.

Sam Altman

On the other side, OpenAI is not just innovating. The organization is weaving tech, financial, and political ties. It is transforming into a structuring actor in the global digital ecosystem. The future of AI is not just played out in labs. It is played out in contractual clauses, capitalizations, and negotiations over access to innovation.

The Microsoft-OpenAI tandem is no longer a one-time alliance. It is an infrastructure. A transcontinental bridge between capital, computation, and source codes. And when you know that Microsoft is already preparing the arrival of new GPT models, and not that of bitcoin, there is no doubt: for them, AI is serious business.