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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
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What to know about Competitive Dynamics

Elon Musk's courtroom battle with Sam Altman over the last couple weeks has primarily revolved around the evolution of OpenAI.

Claims checked 18
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Elon Musk's courtroom battle with Sam Altman over the last couple weeks has primarily revolved around the evolution of OpenAI.

Why it matters

But it's also shined a light on the challenges that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence caused OpenAI's closest partner: Microsoft.

Common ground

Discovery in the high-profile case showed that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was worried about OpenAI supplanting his company in the tech hierarchy as far back as April 2022, seven months before the launch of ChatGPT, the event that kicked off the generative AI…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/13/microsoft-feared-openai-reliance-musk-altman-tri…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 18 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 8
check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
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Claim 1: “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.
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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
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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/
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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
verified
Claim 2: “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.
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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
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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
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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
schedule
Claim 3: “the first supercomputer his company built with OpenAI years ago took about six months, assembling together 10,000 graphics processing units”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 4: “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
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 5: “its stock is down 16% this year while its cloud peers are all trading higher.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 6: “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.
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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…
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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…
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web search NEUTRAL — © 2026 Google LLC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBJhlspmVX4
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Claim 7: “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.
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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
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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
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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
schedule
Claim 8: “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
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 9: “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
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 10: “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
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 11: “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.
schedule
Claim 12: “By June 2026, Microsoft will have spent over $100 billion on OpenAI, inclusive of investment commitments, infrastructure and hosting costs”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 13: “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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Claim 14: “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.
verified
Claim 15: “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.
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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
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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…
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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
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Claim 16: “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.
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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
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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
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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
Claim 17: “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.
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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
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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
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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
schedule
Claim 18: “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
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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.