On May 12, according to Bloomberg, Microsoft set a return target of US$92 billion in its early large-scale investment in OpenAI. This landmark cooperation between the two parties helped usher in the current AI era.
The goal was included in Microsoft's early 2023 planning documents and was disclosed in court on Monday. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told a jury in federal court in Oakland, California, that the investments "worked well because we took the risk." The jury in the lawsuit is hearing a high-profile case filed by Elon Musk against OpenAI and Microsoft.
As of early 2023, Microsoft has invested approximately $13 billion in OpenAI. Since then, OpenAI’s valuation has soared, reaching $852 billion by the end of March this year. As of October last year, Microsoft's stake in OpenAI was worth about $135 billion.
Musk filed a lawsuit in 2024, accusing OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of abandoning the company's founding mission as a nonprofit organization that benefits humanity in favor of a for-profit business operating model. Musk claimed that Microsoft facilitated this betrayal.
OpenAI, Altman, Brockman and Microsoft have all denied wrongdoing and called Musk's accusations groundless harassment aimed at promoting xAI, the AI startup he founded in 2023.
However, Microsoft and OpenAI have had disputes over the terms of their cooperation, and over time, the two companies have gradually formed a more direct competitive relationship. As part of OpenAI's reorganization last year, Microsoft took a 27% ownership stake in the startup.