Published: 13 November 2025
Microsoft and OpenAI updated their partnership to keep Azure’s exclusive access to OpenAI’s frontier APIs while adding three levers that expand deployment choice: independent verification before any AGI claim takes effect, permission for OpenAI to release open‑weight models, and explicit flexibility for non‑API products to run on multiple clouds (Microsoft’s ROFR on compute removed). These changes affect vendor roadmaps, pricing levers, and deployment choices. Enterprise customers may access OpenAI models either directly from OpenAI or via Microsoft channels.
Analysts:
Alastair Woolcock, Eric Goodness, Jason Wong, Jim Hare, Matt Cain, Arun Chandrasekaran
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