The software giant was previously the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI and now retains right of first refusal.

Microsoft will no longer be the exclusive provider of new cloud computing capacity to OpenAI — a new twist in their relationship that clears the way for OpenAI to work with Oracle and others on the $500 billion Stargate AI project announced by the companies Tuesday with President Trump at the White House.

Microsoft is OpenAI's largest investor, with a 49% stake, translating to $14 billion. As part of its complicated partnership with the ChatGPT maker, Microsoft was once the exclusive cloud computing partner for OpenAI. However, OpenAI's $500 billion investment in computing infrastructure changes its relationship with Microsoft.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI will use other cloud infrastructure providers, but Microsoft retains right of first refusal.

The new agreement “includes changes to the exclusivity on new capacity, moving to a model where Microsoft has a right of first refusal (ROFR),” Microsoft says. “To further support OpenAI, Microsoft has approved OpenAI’s ability to build additional capacity, primarily for research and training of models.”

If you've read about the Microsoft-OpenAI relationship over the past few years, you'd know that apart from its financial investments, Microsoft was also the exclusive cloud infra provider to OpenAI. While the former is still there,

The partnership that launched the AI boom has been strained by disagreements over computing resources.

Microsoft, the largest investor in OpenAI and its principal cloud partner, is no longer the exclusive provider of computing capacity for the AI startup. OpenAI will now have the option to seek additional capacity from other providers,

Microsoft’s multi-year partnership with OpenAI is taking a new direction as the ChatGPT maker will no longer exclusively choose Microsoft Azure for new cloud capacity.