OpenAI is reportedly planning to significantly alter its revenue-sharing agreements with commercial partners, projecting a decrease to approximately 8% by 2030 from the current 20%. This adjustment, according to sources, could result in OpenAI retaining over $50 billion in additional revenue. The company has begun restructuring its multi-billion-dollar partnership with Microsoft through a recently signed, non-binding memorandum of understanding.
The evolving dynamics between OpenAI and its partners reflect the company's transition into a more independent and financially flexible organization. The proposed restructuring into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), with the nonprofit retaining majority control, allows OpenAI to pursue commercial growth while staying aligned with its mission to ensure AI benefits humanity. This move is also seen as preparation for OpenAI’s potential future public listing or broader fundraising initiatives. Regulators are currently reviewing the arrangement to ensure compliance with corporate governance and nonprofit accountability standards.
The shift in revenue sharing is occurring as OpenAI's partnerships expand across various sectors, integrating its advanced AI capabilities into partner products and services. These partnerships aim to leverage OpenAI's cutting-edge AI models and the partner's domain expertise, creating innovative solutions that enhance user experiences and business efficiencies. OpenAI's partnerships span a variety of industries, including technology, healthcare, finance, and education. Through these collaborations, OpenAI provides its partners with access to powerful AI tools and models, enabling them to incorporate natural language processing, image recognition, and other AI-driven functionalities into their offerings.
A typical OpenAI partnership can manifest in several forms. For instance, a technology company might integrate OpenAI's language models into their customer support systems to automate responses and improve service efficiency. In the healthcare sector, a partnership might focus on developing AI-powered diagnostic tools to aid in more accurate and faster patient assessments. In education, AI could be utilized to create personalized learning experiences, adapting to the unique needs of each student. These partnerships also involve shared research endeavors, co-development of new AI applications, or mutual contributions to ethical AI usage frameworks. OpenAI emphasizes responsible AI development, ensuring that its partnerships align with principles of safety, transparency, and fairness.
The restructuring also addresses the increasing complexities of the partnership as both companies expand their AI ambitions. Microsoft now lists OpenAI as a competitor in regulatory filings while developing its own large language models. Meanwhile, OpenAI has struck deals to reduce its dependence on Microsoft's infrastructure, including a US$300 billion cloud contract with Oracle starting in 2027 and partnerships with SoftBank on data center projects. The memorandum appears to give both sides what they need. Microsoft secures continued access to OpenAI's technology while OpenAI gains freedom to diversify its infrastructure partnerships.
OpenAI is also collaborating with governments to build more secure AI systems. These partnerships reflect the belief that frontier AI development must happen in close collaboration with allied governments that bring deep expertise in machine learning, national security, and metrology. These collaborations have built on existing security approaches to produce real-world security improvements in practice, such as joint red-teaming of safeguards against biological misuse, end-to-end testing of products for security issues, and rapid feedback loops to resolve related vulnerabilities.
