Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI, will partner on "Azure AI supercomputing technologies"
.jpg)
OpenAI, the originally non-profit AI research organization, will receive a $1bn investment from Microsoft.
Together the companies will build new Azure AI supercomputing technologies, and Microsoft will become OpenAI’s preferred partner for commercializing new AI technologies.
AGI's prophets profit
OpenAI started in 2015 with $1bn in pledged funding from Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), Sam Altman (then-president of startup incubator Y Combinator), Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook investor), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), AWS and more
The research group was a registered non-profit, and aimed to open source the majority of its work - only declining to release tools it thought were too 'dangerous' to be given out.
In an introductory post, OpenAI stated: "Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return. Since our research is free from financial obligations, we can better focus on a positive human impact."
But earlier this year, that mission shifted. This March the group said that it needs "to invest billions of dollars in upcoming years into large-scale cloud compute, attracting and retaining talented people, and building AI supercomputers."
To do this, it split into two groups, one non-profit (OpenAI Nonprofit) and one for-profit (OpenAI LP).
"The fundamental idea of OpenAI LP is that investors and employees can get a capped return if we succeed at our mission, which allows us to raise investment capital and attract employees with startup-like equity. But any returns beyond that amount—and if we are successful, we expect to generate orders of magnitude more value than we’d owe to people who invest in or work at OpenAI LP - are owned by the original OpenAI Nonprofit entity," the group said.
While OpenAI LP now employs the majority of the combined group's approximately 100-strong staff, OpenAI claims that it has "designed OpenAI LP to put our overall mission—ensuring the creation and adoption of safe and beneficial AGI—ahead of generating returns for investors."
OpenAI detailed the restrictions placed on making payouts to investors, saying "returns for our first round of investors are capped at 100x their investment." That is a generous rate of return: if it covers Microsoft, its return is 'capped' at $100bn.
It will also receive non-financial return benefits, including becoming OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider and become the preferred partner for AI commercialization. Those technologies, one can presume, will not be open-sourced.
Microsoft is specifically investing in OpenAI LP, with the group's chairman and CTO Greg Brockman confirming that "it's a cash investment," adding "we'll definitely spend the $1bn within 5 years, and maybe much faster. It's also not Azure credits."
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, previously downplayed the claim that a 100x cap is rather high. Its theoretical AGI could “maybe capture the light cone of all future value in the universe, and that’s for sure not okay for one group of investors to have.”
With today's announcement, he added: “The creation of AGI will be the most important technological development in human history, with the potential to shape the trajectory of humanity.
“Our mission is to ensure that AGI technology benefits all of humanity, and we’re working with Microsoft to build the supercomputing foundation on which we’ll build AGI. We believe it’s crucial that AGI is deployed safely and securely and that its economic benefits are widely distributed. We are excited about how deeply Microsoft shares this vision.”
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, currently the world's most valuable public company, added: “AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time and has the potential to help solve many of our world’s most pressing challenges. By bringing together OpenAI’s breakthrough technology with new Azure AI supercomputing technologies, our ambition is to democratize AI — while always keeping AI safety front and center — so everyone can benefit.”
Earlier this year, Wired reported that OpenAI - which is no longer formally involved with Elon Musk - may also be set to raise money from venture capital firm Khosla Ventures and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman's charitable foundation.
source datacenterdynamics
Industry: Data Centre & Artificial Intelligence
Latest Jobs
-
- Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK
- England
- N/A
-
Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK UK | Remote / Hybrid A cyber security provider is seeking a Public Sector Sales professional to drive growth across UK government and public sector organisations. Must have current Cyber Security sales experience. Responsibilities Generate new business selling cyber security solutions into UK public sector Build relationships with CIO, CISO and senior technology stakeholders Manage the full sales cycle from opportunity to contract close Develop pipeline across central government, local government and public sector bodies Support bids, tenders and framework opportunities Experience Proven cyber security sales experience in the UK Track record selling into public sector organisations Familiarity with CCS, G Cloud or other government frameworks Strong stakeholder engagement and deal management skills Location UK based Security Requirements Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance
-
- Security Architect | MoD - Security Cleared. OUTSIDE IR35 | Hampshire
- N/A
- Outside IR35
-
Security Architect | MOD | Security Cleared | Outside IR35 | Hampshire Commutable The successful candidate must be willing to undergo DV Clearance, ideally already holding active clearance. You will produce high and low level security architecture documentation, guiding and validating designs for systems deployed within sensitive environments. The role requires providing specialist security input into solution design, service transition and change initiatives, working closely with engineering, operations, client and third party stakeholders. You must have current hands on architectural experience, including VMware secure platform design and virtualisation architecture, alongside AWS expertise. This is an outside IR35 contract- 6 month rolling. Part of a longer term MoD project
-
- Active Directory | RBA engineer | UK Remote | SC Clearable
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Technical Active Directory (AD) and RBA specialist needed to play a key part in complex, enterprise scale Active Directory and access transformation programmes. You will work alongside senior team, helping reshape access models, modernise legacy directory structures and strengthen security posture across secure environments. This is hands on delivery within high impact projects where your work directly improves access control, compliance and operational resilience. Active UK Security Clearance required. This is a remote role with client travel. Implementation of Role Based Access Control across large AD estates Restructuring complex permission models, security groups and delegated access Supporting domain controller upgrades and core directory improvements Applying security hardening standards and remediating audit findings Enhancing authentication, policy and access governance frameworks Troubleshooting and resolving technical AD challenges within live environments Producing robust technical documentation and identifying project risks You must have the following technical experience Enterprise Active Directory administration Role Based Access and permission remediation OU design and governance Group Policy management Security group delegation models DNS and DHCP services Kerberos authentication / NTLM PowerShell scripting and automation Azure AD | Entra ID Hybrid identity environments Identity Governance PAM
-
- Identity and Access Management Consultant (Saviynt & Microsoft Entra) | UK
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Role summary Technical IAM consultant delivering identity governance and cloud identity solutions to enterprise clients. What you will do Implement / Configure / Deploy Saviynt IGA / Microsoft Entra solutions: Lead technical workshops, gather requirements and translate into solution designs. Troubleshoot complex issues, support testing and deployments. Produce technical artefacts and configuration guides. Key skills Hands-on Saviynt IGA experience (workflow, connectors, access governance). Strong practical knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD identity and access controls. Understanding of identity protocols (SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect) and hybrid identity. Experience with APIs / REST for integrations and automation. What we are looking for Proven delivery experience in IAM / IGA projects, preferably in consulting. Confident communicator with client-facing delivery exposure.