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Microsoft has resigned from its observer seat on OpenAI’s board, less than eight months after winning a non-voting seat. Apple reportedly planned to join the nonprofit OpenAI board, but now Financial Times reports that Apple will no longer be a member of the board.
OpenAI confirmed in a statement that Microsoft had resigned from its seat Edge, next reports from Axial and Financial Times that Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Keith Dolliver wrote a letter to OpenAI slow Tuesday evening.
“We are grateful to Microsoft for their confidence in our board and direction, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership,” says OpenAI spokesman Steve Sharpe. “Under the leadership of CFO Sarah Friar, we are establishing a new approach to informing and engaging key strategic partners—including Microsoft and Apple—and investors—including Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures.”
OpenAI’s fresh approach to Microsoft and Apple will be to hold “regular stakeholder meetings where we can share progress toward our mission and ensure closer collaboration on security.”
The changes to OpenAI’s board come amid antitrust concerns about Microsoft’s deal with OpenAI that have intensified in recent months. British regulators began seeking feedback on Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI in December, shortly after the turmoil that led to the ouster and return of CEO Sam Altman. EU regulators have also looking at partnershipamong other Gigantic Tech AI deals. The FTC is also investigating Microsoft, Amazon, and Google’s investments in OpenAI and Anthropic.
Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in OpenAI, as part of a deal that makes Microsoft the exclusive cloud partner for OpenAI. Microsoft’s cloud services also power all of OpenAI’s workloads across products, API services, and research. The deal has given Microsoft a head start in the AI race, with OpenAI models helping power Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Copilot, and many AI features across its products and services.