eFinder

eFinder

Home › Competitive Dynamics › Article

Microsoft feared being too dependent on OpenAI, Musk-Altman trial testimony reveals

Cnbc · · 1015 words · By Jordan Novet
Competitive Dynamics Corporate Strategy AI Industry Evolution
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/13/microsoft-feared-openai-reliance-musk-altman-tri…

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

18 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
check_circle
“Elon Musk's courtroom battle with Sam Altman over the last couple weeks has primarily revolved around the evolution of OpenAI.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (KGO, The Guardian, and Wikipedia) confirm the ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman regarding OpenAI's shift from a nonprofit to a for-profit model.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI is a book by Karen Hao released on May 20, 2025. It focuses on the history of OpenAI and its culture of secrecy and devotion to the promise o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_AI
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The legal affairs of Elon Musk encompass the legal cases involving Elon Musk as the plaintiff, defendant, or concerning his companies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_affairs_of_Elon_Musk
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Musk v. Altman is an ongoing lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in which Elon Musk accuses OpenAI and its executives, including CEO Sam Altman, of viol…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musk_v._Altman
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was worried about OpenAI supplanting his company in the tech hierarchy as far back as April 2022”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While Wikipedia provides general information on Satya Nadella and OpenAI, none of the provided evidence mentions specific concerns expressed by Nadella in April 2022 regarding OpenAI supplanting Microsoft.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenAI Group PBC, doing business as OpenAI, is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization headquartered in San Francisco, consisting of a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — On November 17, 2023, OpenAI's board of directors ousted co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman. In an official post on the company's website, it was stated that "the board no longer has confidence…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Removal_of_Sam_Altman_from_Ope…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Satya Narayana Nadella (born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and Jo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya_Nadella
verified
“ChatGPT [launched] seven months after [April 2022]”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and OpenAI's own announcement confirm ChatGPT was released in November 2022. November is exactly seven months after April.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. Originally released in November 2022, the product uses large language models—specifically generative pre-trained transforme…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — ChatGPT Atlas is an AI browser developed by OpenAI. It is based on Chromium and is currently only available on macOS. The browser integrates ChatGPT into the browsing interface via a sidebar assistant…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT_Atlas
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — GPT-4o ("o" for "omni") is a multilingual, multimodal generative pre-trained transformer developed by OpenAI and released in May 2024. It can process and generate text, images and audio. Upon release,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPT-4o
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
“Microsoft wrote its first $1 billion check to OpenAI [roughly three years before April 2022]”
CORROBORATED
TechCrunch and Wikipedia confirm Microsoft's initial $1 billion investment in OpenAI occurred in 2019, which is approximately three years before April 2022.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Microsoft AI (MAI) is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory which serves as a division of Microsoft. It oversees consumer artificial intelligence products. The company is based …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_AI
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Microsoft Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft AI, a division of Microsoft. Based on OpenAI's GPT-4 and GPT-5 series of large language models, it was launched…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Copilot
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenAI Group PBC, doing business as OpenAI, is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization headquartered in San Francisco, consisting of a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“In 1980, IBM agreed to distribute Microsoft's operating system on its computers”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and Business Insider, confirm that IBM contracted Microsoft to provide the operating system (DOS) for its PC in 1980.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Microsoft is a computer technology corporation. Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its current best-selling products are the Microsoft Win…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its successors. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible compu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PC_compatible
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
“Nadella testified on Monday, in the Musk v. Altman trial taking place in Oakland, California.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is corroborated by a cross-reference from CNBC and web search results stating Satya Nadella testified in the Musk v. Altman trial in Oakland, California, on a Monday.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Satya (Sanskrit: सत्य; IAST: Satya) is a Sanskrit word, usually translated as " truth " or " essence.“ [3] Across Indian religions, satya is a deeply valued virtue, signifying the alignment of one's t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Satya Jewelry is more than an accessory—it’s a symbol of your truth, a guide on your path, and a reminder of your intentions. Whether you're seeking protection, wisdom, or empowerment, we create jewel…
https://www.satyajewelry.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago · Explore the concept of **Satya** - truthfulness and its significance. It's a core value emphasizing honesty in thought, speech, and action, crucial fo...
https://www.wisdomlib.org/concept/satya
+ 1 more evidence source
check_circle
“the company [OpenAI] has ballooned to an $850 billion valuation”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources (LinkedIn, Business Insider, and another news report) all state that OpenAI's valuation has reached $850 billion following a recent funding round.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI has raised a massive $122 billion, pushing its valuation close to $850 billion and making it one of the world’s most valuable companies.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pbptofficial_openai-has-raise…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI has raised $122 billion in a landmark funding round, boosting its valuation to $850 billion.“Within a year of launching ChatGPT, we reached $1B in revenue. By the end of 2024 we were generating…
https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-2bn-monthly…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Brockman also confirmed that OpenAI, whose latest fundraising round valued the artificial intelligence company at $850 billion, is exploring an initial public offering. Brockman is not currently liste…
https://www.businessinsider.com/greg-brockman-openai-preside…
check_circle
“OpenAI... has forged partnerships with Microsoft cloud rivals Google, Oracle and, as of February, Amazon.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results from WIRED and other sources confirm partnerships/deals with Amazon (AWS), Oracle, and Google.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — This diversification spree is staggering. OpenAI has committed roughly $1.4 trillion in buildout deals with heavyweights like Nvidia, Broadcom, Oracle, and Google, including a reported $300 billion, f…
https://www.ainvest.com/news/openai-38-billion-aws-pivot-fue…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI has signed a multi-year deal with Amazon to buy $38 billion worth of AWS cloud infrastructure to train its models and serve its users.
https://www.wired.com/story/openai-amazon-multi-billion-doll…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — © 2026 Google LLC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBJhlspmVX4
help
“In April, they revamped the deal so that revenue share payments from OpenAI to Microsoft would be capped and that OpenAI could now serve "all of its products" to customers across any provider, including Amazon and Google.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the specific details of a deal revamp in April regarding revenue share caps and provider flexibility.
help
“Around 45% of Microsoft's commercial remaining performance obligations were tied to OpenAI at the end of 2025”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Microsoft's commercial remaining performance obligations tied to OpenAI at the end of 2025.
schedule
“By June 2026, Microsoft will have spent over $100 billion on OpenAI, inclusive of investment commitments, infrastructure and hosting costs”
PENDING
schedule
“the first supercomputer his company built with OpenAI years ago took about six months, assembling together 10,000 graphics processing units”
PENDING
schedule
“its stock is down 16% this year while its cloud peers are all trading higher.”
PENDING
schedule
“Two months after [January 2024], the company hired Mustafa Suleyman... Nadella made Suleyman CEO of a new AI unit, putting him in charge of Bing and other products.”
PENDING
schedule
“In August of last year, the company said it had started testing a homegrown AI model that could lead to enhancements to its Copilot assistant for consumers.”
PENDING
schedule
“In March, Microsoft restructured its Copilot leadership team, picking a recent hire, former Snap executive Jacob Andreou, to run consumer and commercial Copilot experience.”
PENDING
schedule
“Since 2024, Microsoft... has been allying itself with other companies building AI models, including Musk's xAI, releasing those tools to developers through Azure.”
PENDING
schedule
“Last year, Microsoft said it was tapping AI models from Anthropic for certain use cases, and soon after agreed to invest $5 billion in the the OpenAI rival.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.