According to reports, OpenAI and Microsoft are currently in the process of renegotiating their multibillion-dollar partnership. They aim to reshape the terms of their strategic alliance as the creator of ChatGPT prepares for a possible initial public offering (IPO).

Central to the discussions is the amount of equity Microsoft will keep in OpenAI’s profit-making organization in exchange for its significant investment, which has surpassed $13 billion since 2019.

The renegotiation aims to tackle ownership rights, ongoing access to OpenAI’s forthcoming AI models, and the plan for what follows their existing contract, which extends until 2030.

The report states that Microsoft is willing to lower its ownership share in return for ongoing access to any future technologies that OpenAI creates following the cutoff year.

The renegotiation also encompasses changes to larger contractual agreements made when Microsoft first invested $1 billion in OpenAI. That agreement solidified Microsoft’s position as a financial supporter and key infrastructure ally, delivering cloud computing resources through its Azure platform.

Concurrently, a different report from The Information last week indicated that OpenAI has privately informed investors about its intention to decrease the portion of revenue it allocates to Microsoft under the existing agreement. This action is part of wider reorganization initiatives intended to secure the AI research lab’s sustained autonomy and sustainability in anticipation of a potential IPO.

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Since 2019, Microsoft's impact on the development of OpenAI has increased notably. In January, it revised elements of its agreement with OpenAI after revealing a partnership with Oracle and SoftBank Group to build up to $500 billion in new AI data centers in the US, a step that further reflects its growing aspirations within the generative AI space.