Microsoft has confirmed that it plans to reduce its dependence on OpenAI models, including ChatGPT, and step up development of its own AI systems, signaling a strategic shift in its relationship with one of its best-known partners in the AI industry. These announcements come as OpenAI faces significant financial challenges and seeks to secure additional investment from other major technology companies.
Currently, Microsoft is a significant investor and partner of OpenAI. The company holds about a 27% stake in the reorganized OpenAI’s for-profit arm, and the deal gives Microsoft access to OpenAI’s intellectual property and models until 2032. However, according to the statements of Mustafa Suleyman, the director of AI at Microsoft and one of the founders of Google DeepMind, the company plans to develop its own high-end “frontier” models in order to be less dependent on partnerships with OpenAI and other external providers of AI technology.
This strategic shift follows a restructuring of the partnership between the two companies in October 2025, when OpenAI gained greater freedom to seek resources and investment outside of Microsoft’s infrastructure, leading to OpenAI seeking capital from other major tech players, including tech giants like Amazon, SoftBank and others.
Microsoft, on the other hand, is already investing in the development of its own AI models and infrastructure, aiming to launch these systems in 2026 as part of its vision of a “self-contained AI future” that is not entirely tied to OpenAI technologies. In addition, the company continues to invest in other AI startups and platforms such as Anthropic and Mistral, diversifying its AI portfolio and reducing the long-term risks of relying on a single source of AI knowledge and models.
These developments reflect a broader dynamic within the AI industry: Big tech players are increasingly seeking to control their own AI capabilities, rather than depending on partners, to better manage costs, technology ownership and strategic independence. In this context, although Microsoft still has a financial interest in OpenAI and uses its models in many products, its long-term vision clearly includes its own alternatives that would position it as an independent leader in the AI space.
This does not mean that Microsoft is “suddenly terminating” the partnership with OpenAI or that it will stop using its models immediately, but it is clear that the company is preparing for a future in which it can create and use its own advanced AI systems, a step that could significantly change the landscape of AI technology in the industry in the coming years, writes Windows Central.