What if Microsoft let OpenAI go free?
It may not be as crazy as it sounds
Call it a spectacular modern-day version of Renaissance patronage. Since 2019 Microsoft has provided more than $13bn in cash and computing capacity to OpenAI, a once-penniless startup that is now at the forefront of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and, as of its most recent fundraising round, worth $157bn. In exchange, Microsoft has gained the exclusive right to run OpenAI’s models on Azure, its cloud-computing business.
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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The Medicis and Michelangelo”
Business November 2nd 2024
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