OpenAI and Microsoft tensions are reaching a boiling point

Tensions between OpenAI and Microsoft over the future of their famed AI partnership are flaring up.

- Berber Jin

Tensions between OpenAI and Microsoft over the future of their famed AI partnership are flaring up. OpenAI wants to loosen Microsoft's grip on its AI products and computing resources, and secure the tech giant's blessing for its conversion into a for-profit company.

Microsoft's approval of the conversion is key to OpenAI's ability to raise more money and go public. But the negotiations have been so difficult that in recent weeks, OpenAI's executives have discussed what they view as a nuclear option: accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior during their partnership, people familiar with the matter said. That effort could involve seeking federal regulatory review of the terms of the contract for potential violations of antitrust law, as well as a public campaign, the people said. Such a move could threaten the companies' six-year-old relationship, widely seen as one of the most successful partnerships in tech history.

For years, Microsoft fueled OpenAI's rise in exchange for early access to its technology, but the two sides have since turned into competitors, making it more difficult to find common ground.