Microsoft’s absence from OpenAI’s Stargate announcement follows months of tension between the companies and signals a new era in which the longtime partners will be less reliant on each other. At a White House press conference,

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.

The Stargate project, a landmark US$500 billion joint venture announced by US President Donald Trump in early 2025, has exposed growing tensions between OpenAI and Microsoft. While initially co-developed by the two companies,

On Tuesday, OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX announced plans to form Stargate, a new company that will invest $500 billion in AI computing infrastructure across the United States over four years. The announcement came during a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, who called it the "largest AI infrastructure project in history."

Microsoft has clarified its partnership with OpenAI after the latter announced a $500 billion data center initiative.

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.

Microsoft has revised its agreement with OpenAI, allowing the AI company to partner with other cloud service providers (CSPs). However, Microsoft retains the Right of First Refusal (ROFR), giving it a priority to match any competing offers before OpenAI commits to other providers.