Equity on the Line as Microsoft and OpenAI Clash Over Partnership Terms

According to a report by the Financial Times, Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly in the middle of a difficult renegotiation that could reshape the future of their high-profile partnership. The talks come amid OpenAI’s efforts to restructure its corporate framework while keeping control firmly in the hands of its nonprofit board.

Sources familiar with the matter told the FT that Microsoft, which has invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI, is seen as a crucial party whose approval is required for the company’s updated for-profit restructuring plans. While OpenAI still plans to transition its commercial arm into a public benefit corporation, the nonprofit board will retain governing authority — a model that some investors, including Microsoft, are now questioning.

At the core of the negotiations is Microsoft’s potential equity stake in the new structure. However, the discussions also reportedly include broader contractual terms. Microsoft is said to be seeking continued access to future OpenAI technologies, even beyond the current 2030 agreement. In return, it may be willing to forfeit some equity.

These talks are further complicated by rising competitive tensions. OpenAI’s rapid expansion in the enterprise space and its push to develop its own advanced AI infrastructure, including the Stargate supercomputing initiative, have created new areas of friction between the two companies.

Neither Microsoft nor OpenAI has publicly commented on the status of the negotiations.