Nadella Says OpenAI IP Was Central to Microsoft Deal as Trial Reveals $9 Billion Revenue
Satya Nadella's testimony in the Musk-OpenAI trial added detail to Microsoft's economics and governance in its relationship with OpenAI. Nadella said access to OpenAI's intellectual property was central to Microsoft's decision to partner with the company, while Microsoft corporate representative Michael Wetter said Microsoft has recognized $9 billion in revenue over the life of the partnership from its 20% revenue share and that Microsoft's approval would be required for OpenAI to convert to a public benefit corporation.
Nadella testified that Sam Altman emailed him in February 2018 saying Elon Musk had left OpenAI's board and that OpenAI had created a new for-profit subsidiary. He also said the Microsoft-OpenAI agreement would be dissolved if artificial general intelligence is achieved, with OpenAI's nonprofit board solely deciding when that threshold is reached. Nadella added that Musk never contacted him to object to Microsoft's 2019 partnership, 2020 GPT-3 license or 2023 investment, and that Microsoft continues to host Musk's xAI model Grok-4 on Azure even after Musk sued the company.
From the sources (15 posts)
@wallstengineOPENAI’S PRESIDENT PRIVATELY WROTE THAT OPENAI WANTED MUSK OUT Greg Brockman’s 2017 journal has become one of the most revealing pieces of evidence in Musk v. Altman. In one entry, Brockman wrote: “the true answer is that we want him out
@swiftstoriesBack at #MuskAltman today where @Microsoft CEO @satyanadella is expected to testify about why MSFT didn't help (allegedly) @OpenAI breach its charitable trust
@mtsliveSITUATION UPDATE: Week three of the Musk v. Altman trial begins today at 8 am PT. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is expected to testify today.
@mikeisaacgut morgen from downtown oakland on what may turn out to be the last week of the musk v openai (featuring microsoft!) trial it is cold and i have a a cold coffee to keep me cold
@mikeisaacMSFT exec says MSFT has "recognized $9 billion in revenue" throughout the total life of their partnership with openAI. that is a figure that comes from their 20 percent revenue share. and that's after, i think, accounting for their 13b in
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Microsoft corporate representative Michael Wetter confirmed that Microsoft's approval was required for OpenAI to convert to a public benefit corporation.
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Satya Nadella testified he received a February 2018 email from Sam Altman informing him that Elon Musk had left OpenAI's board and that the company had created a new for-profit subsidiary.
@mikeisaacNadella, who was yanked out of a meeting when Altman was fired in 2023: "I was pretty surprised to say the least. b/c there was no reach out to me from the board, which i thought would be a pretty obvious thing to do." customers started
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Satya Nadella testified that IP access was central to Microsoft's decision to partner with OpenAI. "Without it, it wouldn't make any sense. We were not investing in OpenAI just as an investment -- there was an IP elemen
@mikeisaacdamn. Nadella, when told of new CEO being named at OAI, said "okay great we will support you and also we are going to create a competing company by hiring sam and greg and the gang." cold blooded
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Satya Nadella testified that if AGI is achieved, the entire Microsoft-OpenAI partnership agreement would be dissolved, with the nonprofit board of OpenAI solely deciding when that threshold is reached.
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Satya Nadella testified that Elon Musk never contacted him to raise objections to Microsoft's 2019 OpenAI partnership, the 2020 GPT-3 license, or the 2023 investment, despite the two having each other's phone numbers.
@mikeisaacnadella on how he feels about the OpenAI investment: "Im very proud that we took the risk and were willing to sponsor this fledgling lab at the time….and start, in fact, all the innovation happening today...and that it has created one of
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: Satya Nadella testified that Microsoft hosts Elon Musk's xAI model Grok-4 on Azure, a partnership that continued even after Musk sued Microsoft. Nadella said Musk retweeted the announcement and thanked him.
@mtsliveLIVE TRIAL UPDATE: On cross-examination, Satya Nadella confirmed to Musk's attorneys that for-profit activities at a nonprofit are subservient to the nonprofit's mission.