By Madhumita Murgia,George Hammond,Stephen Morris
Publication Date: 2026-03-18 05:00:00
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Microsoft is weighing legal action against Amazon and OpenAI over a $50bn deal that could breach its exclusive cloud partnership with the ChatGPT maker, setting up a clash between the Big Tech rivals.
The dispute centres on whether Amazon Web Services can offer OpenAI’s new commercial product, known as Frontier, without violating a longstanding agreement that requires all access to the start-up’s models to be routed through Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
The arrangement is highly lucrative for Microsoft, with OpenAI’s products helping drive Azure revenues to record highs.
Amazon and OpenAI say they are building a system that works around the contract. Microsoft executives dispute this, saying the approach is not feasible and would violate the spirit, if not the letter, of their agreement, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Ahead of Frontier’s…
