Microsoft Loses Exclusive Access To OpenAI Models And Products, Paving Way For Other Deals
Microsoft will cease to have exclusive access to OpenAI’s models and products, paving the way for the company to make deals with other large companies, according to a new report.
Reuters detailed that Microsoft largely benefited from its association with OpenAI, allowing it to quickly launch technology across products.
However, the outlet added, tensions have risen between the companies as OpanAI struck cloud deals with rival companies, including a $50 billion could deal with Amazon. Microsoft reportedly weighed legal action against the companies over the deal.
The new arrangement details that Microsoft will continue to be OpenAI’s primary cloud partner and hold a license to its intellectual property through 2032. It won’t pay a revenue share to OpenAI either.
The company said in a blog post that the “rapid pace of innovation requires us to continue to evolve our partnership to benefit our customers and both companies.”
Microsoft has also made headlines recently for announcing its first-ever voluntary employee buyout, which could reach approximately 7% of the company’s workforce, amounting to roughly 8,750 employees.
The buyout, first reported last week by CNBC, is aimed at U.S.-based employees at the senior director level and below whose ages plus years of service total at least 70. Some workers on sales incentive plans are excluded. Microsoft chief people officer Amy Coleman reportedly said the idea is to give eligible employees a chance to leave “on their own terms” with company support.
The planned buyout comes as Microsoft continues adjusting its workforce and compensation structure. The company is also reportedly revising how it distributes stock awards and simplifying its managerial review and rewards systems. The Verge reported that Microsoft is reducing the number of stock award levels from nine to five and is moving away from linking stock awards directly to bonuses, giving managers more flexibility in compensation decisions.
Microsoft said in its 2025 annual report that it employed about 228,000 full-time workers as of June 30, 2025, including 125,000 in the United States. A 7% slice of that domestic total would put the eligible pool just under 9,000 people, a meaningful number even if not all workers accept the offer.
That pressure on the company has already shown up in other personnel decisions. In March, Microsoft had reportedly frozen hiring in major cloud and sales groups as it approached the end of its fiscal year and looked to rein in costs tied to AI infrastructure. The company also cut less than 3% of its workforce in May 2025, then announced another round in July 2025 affecting about 4% of jobs, as it pushed to streamline operations while continuing to pour billions into artificial intelligence.
