Microsoft and OpenAI gut their exclusive deal, freeing OpenAI to sell on AWS and Google Cloud

Key Points:

• Microsoft and OpenAI have restructured their partnership, replacing exclusivity and revenue-sharing terms with a non-exclusive, time-limited agreement that allows OpenAI to offer its products on any cloud platform, including AWS and Google Cloud.
• Under the new deal, Microsoft will no longer pay revenue share to OpenAI for Azure-based access, while OpenAI will continue paying Microsoft a capped 20% revenue share through 2030, and Microsoft retains a non-exclusive license to OpenAI's IP through 2032.
• The restructuring resolves legal conflicts triggered by OpenAI's $50 billion investment deal with Amazon, which required expanding OpenAI's presence on AWS, previously restricted by the exclusive Microsoft agreement.
• The previous AGI-triggered exclusivity clause has been removed and replaced with fixed dates, signaling a shift away from philosophical governance tied to artificial general intelligence toward more conventional commercial terms.
• The new arrangement benefits enterprise customers by enabling multi-cloud AI deployments, intensifying competition among cloud providers and reflecting OpenAI's evolution into a more independent and commercially flexible AI leader.