No more camaraderie: Microsoft categorizes OpenAI as its rival in the field of AI

Last week, Microsoft classified OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, as a “competitor” in a report presented to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with other companies such as Anthropic, Amazon, and Meta, in the field of artificial intelligence.

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This change by Microsoft is at least surprising if we consider that the Redmond company has invested 13 billion dollars in OpenAI as part of a long-term partnership that has allowed integrating OpenAI models into Microsoft products for both businesses and consumers. In addition, Microsoft has become the exclusive cloud services provider for OpenAI.

The designation of OpenAI as a competitor also extends to the field of internet searches, highlighting the new SearchGPT feature from OpenAI. This ranking could be influenced by antitrust investigations, such as the one being carried out by the FTC regarding Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI, as well as its investments in other AI startups. In an attempt to distance itself, Microsoft resigned its observer position on the OpenAI board, a position obtained after the brief removal of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI at the end of last year.

The report presented to the SEC reflects caution on the part of Microsoft, also noting that in Silicon Valley it is not uncommon for some companies to be both partners and competitors. A historical example is the relationship between Yahoo and Google, where both companies collaborated for a while before Google became the undisputed leader in search engines.

Microsoft seems to be taking steps to diversify its investments in AI. In March, the company hired Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonyan, co-founders of the startup Inflection AI, to lead a new division called Microsoft AI. This strategy indicates the intention of the tech giant to develop an artificial intelligence ecosystem that does not rely exclusively on OpenAI, with projects like Microsoft Copilot and other AI initiatives.

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