Microsoft and OpenAI reaffirm partnership terms as OpenAI expands funding and cloud ties

Microsoft and OpenAI used a joint statement on February 27, 2026 to answer one of the biggest questions in AI infrastructure: whether OpenAI's new funding and new cloud relationships dilute the strategic position Microsoft has built since 2019. Their answer was no. The companies said nothing in OpenAI's new announcements changes the previously disclosed terms of the partnership.

The statement matters because it arrives while OpenAI expands capital sources and signs additional infrastructure arrangements. Microsoft said the partnership remains strong and central and that its IP relationship with OpenAI is unchanged. According to the company, Microsoft continues to hold exclusive license and access rights across OpenAI models and products, even as OpenAI works with other partners.

The cloud language is the key operational detail. Microsoft said Azure remains the exclusive cloud provider for stateless OpenAI APIs, and that any stateless API traffic generated through third-party collaborations, including Amazon, would still run on Azure. At the same time, OpenAI retains flexibility to commit additional compute elsewhere through large-scale initiatives such as Stargate. In practical terms, Microsoft is drawing a line between control of the core API distribution layer and OpenAI's need to diversify raw compute supply.

The companies also said the commercial and revenue-share structure remains unchanged, including arrangements that involve other cloud providers. OpenAI's first-party products, including Frontier, will continue to be hosted on Azure, and the contractual definition of AGI and the process for deciding whether it has been achieved also remain unchanged. Those details matter because they speak directly to the governance and economics of the relationship, not just the messaging around it.

For customers, the immediate takeaway is stability. Enterprises that standardized on Azure-hosted OpenAI services now have formal confirmation that the stateless API layer is still anchored to Microsoft, while OpenAI continues expanding the broader compute footprint needed for frontier model training and deployment. For the market, the statement suggests the OpenAI ecosystem is not moving toward either a single-cloud monopoly or a clean breakup. Instead, it is evolving into a more layered structure: Microsoft keeps the commercial API center of gravity, while OpenAI adds financing and infrastructure options around it.