Microsoft has a complicated past with OpenAI. As part of a long-term partnership, Microsoft is said to have invested $13 billion in the company that makes ChatGPT. As part of the deal, Microsoft is the only cloud provider for OpenAI and uses its models in both business and consumer goods.
When the tech giant filed with the SEC on Tuesday, it was the first time it called the company a “competitor.”
Along with Anthropic, Amazon, and Meta, OpenAI joined a long list of AI rivals in Microsoft’s annual 10K. Thanks to OpenAI’s new SearchGPT feature, which was announced last week, it was also mentioned as a search competitor to Microsoft, along with Google.
Because of antitrust worries, Microsoft might be trying to change the story about its relationship with OpenAI. The FTC is currently looking into the relationship, as well as other cloud provider investments in AI startups. Microsoft recently agreed to give up its observer seat on the startup’s board. It got this seat after OpenAI’s board temporarily fired CEO Sam Altman last fall, which led Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to offer Altman and other top executives jobs at Microsoft.
On the other hand, this kind of SEC report is often where companies send investors very cautious warnings.
In Silicon Valley, being a partner and a foe are not mutually exclusive terms. In 2000, Yahoo, which was the most popular search engine at the time, said it would let Google’s search results show up on its blog. After working together for a while, Google ate Yahoo’s lunch in search and became the unofficial but most important front door to the internet. Even though they worked together, the two companies were still threats to each other. TechCrunch is owned by Yahoo.
There is a past of this kind of power shift in technology, so it’s possible that Microsoft and OpenAI will end up in the same place.
Microsoft isn’t putting all of its eggs in one basket, though.
Also Read: The Company Openai Says It Will No Longer Have Any Observers After Microsoft Goes
We hired Mustafa Suleyman and KarƩn Simonyan, co-founders of the $1 billion AI startup Inflection AI, in March to run its new AI business. The cloud service provider is putting a lot of money into Microsoft Copilot and planning an AI future that has nothing to do with OpenAI.
What do you say about this story? Visit Parhlo World For more.
