Microsoft Poised to Benefit From Stargate JV With Zero Money
- OpenAI-led venture lets Microsoft offload AI computing costs
- Software giant could still decide to invest more in future
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When President Donald Trump joined tech executives on Tuesday to tout a multibillion-dollar artificial intelligence project led in part by OpenAI, one question sprang to mind: Where’s Microsoft Corp.?
Despite investing almost $14 billion in OpenAI and using the startup’s AI models for its next-generation cloud services, Microsoft was mentioned only as a technology partner in a joint venture called Stargate launched by OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp. and Oracle Corp. Then, in a blog post, the software giant said OpenAI could use rival cloud services to train and run its AI models with Microsoft’s permission, watering down an exclusivity contract.