By John Xavier
Publication Date: 2026-03-26 02:33:00
There is a kind of awkwardness in a relationship when both parties know something has changed, but neither wants to say it out loud. The partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI seems to have arrived at exactly that moment.
The duo that joined hands even before the ChatGPT-triggered AI boom took the tech world by storm.
Microsoft invested a billion dollars in OpenAI, back in June 2019, to “build beneficial AGI.” The move was aimed at extending Microsoft’s cloud capabilities in large-scale AI systems that were still not completely built. The logic was clean and mutually beneficial. OpenAI needed Microsoft’s money and cloud infrastructure to build large language models, and Satya Nadella needed Sam Altman researchers and cutting-edge technology. The partnership worked fine for both sides.
In late 2022, ChatGPT exploded into public consciousness, making Microsoft increase its funding in OpenAI with a $10 billion investment in January 2023 as the software maker rushed to integrate…
