Microsoft and OpenAI revamp partnership, with trial in Elon Musk suit set to begin

OAKLAND — Microsoft and OpenAI announced a major amendment to their partnership Monday morning, just as jury selection began in Elon Musk’s landmark lawsuit against both companies in Oakland federal court.

Under the new deal, OpenAI can now serve all of its products — including API-based services previously exclusive to Microsoft Azure — on any cloud provider, theoretically including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

Update: It’s not theoretical for AWS. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy signaled the immediate impact of the change, posting on LinkedIn that OpenAI’s models will be available on Amazon’s Bedrock platform “in the coming weeks.” He said more details would come at an AWS event in San Francisco on Tuesday.

Microsoft’s license to OpenAI’s intellectual property, extended through 2032, becomes non-exclusive. And Microsoft will no longer pay a revenue share to OpenAI, though OpenAI’s payments to Microsoft continue through 2030, subject to a new cap.

The Redmond company remains OpenAI’s primary cloud partner, and OpenAI products will continue to ship first on Azure unless Microsoft cannot or chooses not to support the required capabilities. Microsoft also continues as a major OpenAI shareholder.

The timing is notable. Jury selection in Musk v. Altman — in which Musk alleges Microsoft aided OpenAI’s abandonment of its nonprofit mission — begins Monday morning before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland.

Microsoft’s influence over OpenAI is one of the issues at the heart of the case. Both companies face potential penalties of billions of dollars if Musk prevails.

Neither company addressed the trial directly in announcing the deal. “The rapid pace of innovation requires us to continue to evolve our partnership,” they said in a joint statement.

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