Microsoft, OpenAI Shift to Competitive Rivalry

Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI is evolving into one marked by both strategic partnership and competitive rivalry. Despite investing around $13 billion into OpenAI and being its exclusive cloud provider, Microsoft now categorizes OpenAI as a competitor in its latest SEC filings and annual reports. This shift is attributed to overlapping business interests, particularly in AI search engines, where OpenAI's newly launched SearchGPT competes directly with Microsoft's Bing Generative Search. Notably, Microsoft did not mention OpenAI in its recent earnings call, indicating a cooling of their previously close collaboration. These developments occur amidst ongoing antitrust probes in the US, UK, and EU concerning their partnership. Nevertheless, mutual respect and past collaborations may sustain a toned-down relationship going forward.