Microsoft has revised the terms of its partnership with OpenAI following its Cloud partner's announcement of a major joint venture with Oracle and Japan's SoftBank Group. The new collaboration aims to establish up to USD500 billion worth of AI-focused data centers across the United States.

On January 21, former U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the leaders of this ambitious project, dubbed "Stargate," at the White House. He emphasized that the initiative is designed to maintain America's competitive edge in the global AI race, particularly against rivals like China, leveraging advanced Nvidia chips for its infrastructure.

Since 2019, Microsoft has held exclusive rights to develop new computing frameworks for OpenAI through agreements that positioned the Redmond-based company as OpenAI's primary partner. However, in a recent blog post, Microsoft confirmed it has now granted OpenAI the flexibility to create additional capacity, particularly for AI model research and training, opening the door for OpenAI to collaborate with Oracle.

Key Details of the Stargate Venture

An insider familiar with the deal revealed that Stargate will operate as an independent entity. OpenAI will have an equity stake, governance authority, and operational oversight in this joint venture. The new entity will feature its own CEO, a separate board appointed by its founding members, and other notable investors, including the United Arab Emirates-based firm MGX.

While Microsoft, along with Nvidia and Arm, will act as a technology partner for the venture, it will not contribute equity funding. SoftBank’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, is set to serve as the board chairman of Stargate, according to a statement shared by OpenAI on the social media platform X.

Despite the evolving partnership, Microsoft still retains exclusive rights to distribute OpenAI’s primary revenue-generating service—its application programming interface (API). This means Oracle will not have the ability to host OpenAI’s core revenue-driving services.

Partnership Elements Intact

Microsoft also disclosed that it maintains revenue-sharing agreements with OpenAI, ensuring benefits flow both ways. It further highlighted that the core terms of their partnership, which extend through 2030, remain unchanged. These include Microsoft’s access to OpenAI’s intellectual property, revenue-sharing arrangements, and exclusivity on OpenAI’s APIs.

Additionally, Microsoft noted that OpenAI has recently committed to a significant new investment in Azure, Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. This commitment will continue to support OpenAI’s entire product ecosystem and training efforts.