Microsoft executives expressed skepticism about OpenAI funding in 2017–2018 emails revealed during Musk v. Altman trial

In August 2017, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman asked Microsoft for $300 million worth of Azure cloud computing services after winning a video game competition using AI. Microsoft's internal teams—including its AI group, research team, and public relations—saw limited value in the request, with analysis showing Microsoft could lose about $150 million over several years if it provided the services Altman wanted.

Microsoft executives including CEO Satya Nadella, CTO Kevin Scott, and executive vice president Jason Zander worried that declining support could push OpenAI to Amazon Web Services. Scott said OpenAI was treating Microsoft 'like a bucket of undifferentiated GPUs,' while Horvitz expressed skepticism of 'imminent breakthrough in AGI,' preferring collaboration without 'many millions of dollars of support.'

Despite reservations, Microsoft later became OpenAI's primary financial backer. From 2019 through 2023, Microsoft committed $13 billion in cash and cloud computing credits. Roughly 18 months after the 2017–2018 emails, Microsoft announced a landmark $1 billion investment in OpenAI after the lab created a for-profit arm that provided the tech giant with the potential to generate a return of $20 billion.