Microsoft has signed a new partnership agreement with OpenAI, of which it was an early shareholder, the ChatGPT developer said. The deal "removes uncertainty for investors in both companies and opens the way for the ChatGPT developer to restructure into a commercial business," Bloomberg writes.

On the news of the deal, Microsoft shares jumped by almost 4% in early trading. As a result, the company's capitalization exceeded $4 trillion.

Under the terms of the deal:

- Microsoft will receive approximately 27% in the commercial organization OpenAI Group PBC (Public Benefit Corporation), which was created by OpenAI. The value of Microsoft's stake is estimated at about $135 billion, the report says.

- Microsoft, which supported OpenAI early on and invested $13 billion in it, will have access to OpenAI technologies through 2032, including artificial intelligence models that have reached the AGI reference level - that is, capable of mimicking the cognitive abilities of the human brain. Microsoft's access to OpenAI technologies does not extend to consumer hardware.

- Once OpenAI's AI models reach AGI level, which must be validated by an independent peer review panel, Microsoft will cease to receive a share of OpenAI's revenue.

- Microsoft will no longer have the first priority right to act as a provider of computing power for OpenAI. At the same time, the corporation announced that OpenAI has agreed to purchase additional Azure cloud services worth $250 billion.

"What began as an investment in a research organization has grown into one of the most successful partnerships in our industry," OpenAI said in a statement. - "As we move into the next phase of this partnership, we have signed a new definitive agreement that strengthens our partnership and lays the foundation for the long-term success of both organizations.

What this means for OpenAI

OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit research organization, but with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, it has evolved into a major player in the market, forced to simplify investor interactions. OpenAI has been working on restructuring for most of this year to become a more traditional for-profit company.

In the new commercial structure of OpenAI Group PBC, the non-profit OpenAI Foundation will have a 26% stake. Another 47% will be distributed among current and former employees and investors of the startup.

The completion of the restructuring opens the way for ChatGPT developer to float shares on the stock exchange in the future, Reuters notes. In September, the startup with a $500 billion valuation became the world's most valuable private company, surpassing Elon Musk's SpaceX.


This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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