OpenAI to Save $97 Billion in Microsoft Payments by 2030

On Oct. 28, 2025 OpenAI and Microsoft completed a renegotiation that will reduce OpenAI’s payments to Microsoft through 2030 by about $97 billion. The revised terms cap revenue-sharing and lower Microsoft’s revenue share.

Under the original agreement OpenAI had agreed to pay Microsoft 20% of its revenue through 2030, a commitment that could have totaled roughly $135 billion. The renegotiated terms limit total revenue-share payments and remove an escalation tied to verification of artificial general intelligence, reducing OpenAI’s expected payouts by about $97 billion through 2030.

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told investors the company now expects to share “roughly 8% to 10% of revenue with all commercial partners combined, including Microsoft, by 2030, down from 20% today.” Executives attribute the change to a lower percentage rate and a firm cap on cumulative payments. AGI verification still ends Microsoft’s research IP rights but no longer triggers higher revenue sharing.

As part of the restructuring Microsoft received a 27% stake in OpenAI Group PBC, a holding valued at about $135 billion. OpenAI committed to purchasing $250 billion in Azure cloud services. Microsoft retains access to OpenAI research intellectual property through 2032. Microsoft does not receive an ongoing revenue share from OpenAI; its principal returns are the equity stake, the Azure purchase commitment and multi-year IP access.

The renegotiated deal ended Microsoft’s exclusive right to provide cloud computing for OpenAI products. OpenAI will continue to prioritize launches on Azure “unless Microsoft cannot and chooses not to support the necessary capabilities,” but it can now sell models and enterprise services through Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.

The expanded cloud options have produced friction. Microsoft is considering legal action related to a $50 billion agreement that granted AWS exclusive third-party cloud rights for OpenAI’s Frontier enterprise AI platform. Microsoft maintains the partnership requires OpenAI’s API products to run on Azure; OpenAI contends that Frontier qualifies as a non-API product that can be hosted elsewhere.

Analysts noted the restructuring changed the commercial balance between the companies. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the new terms “a net positive for Microsoft” because they lock in multi-year IP control while removing uncertainty around the partnership’s long-term financial structure. Industry sources say Amazon discussed investing up to $50 billion in OpenAI as part of broader strategic discussions.

OpenAI completed its conversion into a public benefit corporation controlled by a nonprofit foundation on Oct. 28, 2025. Company executives told investors that removing Azure exclusivity and the AGI-triggered payment escalation addressed structural obstacles to a public listing. OpenAI is preparing for a possible initial public offering in the fourth quarter.