Altman and Nadella locked in crunch talks for the future of OpenAI and Microsoft

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has confirmed he had a call on Monday with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to hash out how the two firms will work together moving forward.

Altman revealed the chat in a New York Times podcast on Tuesday morning, downplaying any major rifts but admitting there are “points of tension” in the alliance.

Talks may determine Microsoft’s stake in OpenAI

Microsoft, which was one of OpenAI’s earliest backers, has been in talks to tweak the terms of its investment with the startup. According to a Wall Street Journal report, those tweaks could reshape how big a slice of the AI startup Microsoft ends up owning.

“Obviously in any deep partnership, there are points of tension and we certainly have those.”

~ Altman.

“But on the whole, it’s been like really wonderfully good for both companies,” he told the NYT

A separate report by the Financial Times suggests Microsoft might even hit pause on negotiations if both sides can’t bridge gaps over critical points, chief among them the future share Microsoft would hold in OpenAI.

FT says the tech giant is ready to “abandon its high-stakes negotiations” if agreement remains elusive. Both companies have declined to comment beyond pointing to an ongoing, productive partnership.

An area of contention is how much equity Microsoft would command should OpenAI convert to a for-profit entity. Reports indicate OpenAI wants the freedom to raise fresh capital and perhaps go public, moves that could dilute Microsoft’s position unless terms are reset.

The chatbot maker also reportedly accuses Microsoft of behavior that could draw regulatory scrutiny, given its dual role as investor and exclusive cloud partner.

Despite these bumpy discussions, the two sides plan to honor their existing commercial agreement through 2030, sourcing Microsoft’s Azure cloud services for all OpenAI workloads. That contract has powered products like GitHub Copilot and underpins the cloud horsepower behind ChatGPT, making it a cornerstone of both companies’ AI ambitions.

The issue has been swirling for some time now, and after reports on June 17, the companies in a joint statement dismissed any rift, stating that: “We have a long-term, productive partnership that has delivered amazing AI tools for everyone. Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come.”

Microsoft and OpenAI remain upbeat about future collaborations

Beyond talks with Nadella, Altman said he had had fruitful conversations about AI with US President Donald Trump, whom he credited for grasping the geopolitical and economic stakes of advanced machine-learning technology.

In January, Trump unveiled “Stargate,” a $500 billion private-sector initiative backed by SoftBank, Oracle and OpenAI itself, aimed at supercharging the nation’s AI infrastructure.

For now, the Microsoft-OpenAI relationship is viewed as one of tech’s great success stories. Microsoft’s early bet enabled OpenAI to scale rapidly, while OpenAI’s breakthroughs have driven demand for Microsoft’s cloud and software services.

Still, as both sides eye new ventures and eventual public markets, they’re also morphing from collaborators into competitors.

Talks are continuing behind closed doors, and both companies say they’re optimistic about a long-term path together. Yet with April 2026 looming as a deadline for OpenAI’s for-profit conversion to preserve certain funding pledges, the next few months could prove critical.

The market will continue to follow the developments as they unfold. Whether Microsoft keeps increasing its AI muscle or steps back will depend on how swiftly negotiators iron out the final sticking points and whether each side can reconcile growth ambitions with control over tomorrow’s most powerful technology.

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