Microsoft and OpenAI renegotiate $13 billion investment deal terms

Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly renegotiating the terms of their investment agreement, which involves over $13 billion invested since 2019.

The talks focus on Microsoft potentially reducing its equity stake in OpenAI in exchange for continued access to OpenAI’s AI models and products beyond the current deal expiration in 2030, according to the Financial Times.

OpenAI, originally founded as a non-profit in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Ilya Sutskever, has been undergoing a restructuring process aimed at shifting toward a profit-driven model.

This proposed transition has faced opposition from co-founders and early investors, notably Elon Musk, who challenged the legality of the change in a November 2024 court filing.

“OpenAI was actually started and was meant to be open source. I named it ‘OpenAI’ after open source, now it is, in fact, closed source. It should be renamed super closed source AI for maximum profit AI,” stated Musk, criticising OpenAI’s move away from open-source development.

In early 2025, Musk and a group of investors submitted a $97.4 billion bid to acquire OpenAI, which was rejected by CEO Sam Altman.

On May 5, 2025, OpenAI announced it would abandon the plan to become a purely for-profit company.

Instead, it will restructure as a public benefit corporation controlled by a non-profit organisation, balancing profit motives with social objectives.

This shift reflects ongoing tensions within OpenAI regarding its mission and governance structure amid increasing global focus on AI development and regulation.

The renegotiation with Microsoft is seen as a critical component of OpenAI’s future strategy and funding, as the company navigates these changes and the evolving AI landscape.

According to sources close to the matter, the revised deal aims to secure long-term collaboration while adjusting Microsoft’s financial exposure.