OpenAI and Microsoft may be moving toward a very different financial arrangement. According to a report from The Information, OpenAI plans to give Microsoft a much smaller share of its revenue going forward, while Microsoft would receive a large stake in a restructured OpenAI entity.
A smaller revenue share for Microsoft
The central reported change is simple but significant: Microsoft’s cut of OpenAI revenue, currently just under 20 percent, would fall to around 8 percent by 2030. OpenAI has reportedly told some investors about that shift.
Under the original deal, Microsoft was guaranteed 20 percent through 2030. The reported revision would therefore change the economics of the relationship before the end point that had previously been described.
For OpenAI, the reason given in the report is tied to computing costs. The lower revenue share would let OpenAI keep more than $50 billion in additional revenue to cover its massive computing costs.
That detail matters because it frames the negotiation as more than a simple reduction in Microsoft’s take. It suggests OpenAI is trying to retain more of the cash generated by its own growth so it can fund the infrastructure needed to keep operating and expanding its AI systems.
What Microsoft would receive instead
The reported tradeoff is that Microsoft would get one-third of the restructured OpenAI entity. Sources told The Information that another portion would go to the nonprofit side.
That structure would move Microsoft’s benefit away from a larger revenue cut and toward a major share of the reorganized entity. The report does not describe every detail of the restructuring, so the practical meaning of that one-third position remains limited to what has been reported.
One point is clear in the source: Microsoft still will not have a board seat. That means the reported stake would not come with that specific form of governance role.
The distinction is important. A large share of a restructured entity and a board seat are not the same thing. Based on the report, Microsoft would receive a substantial position in the new structure, but not direct board representation.
Why the computing-cost issue matters
The source identifies computing costs as the reason the revenue shift would matter so much to OpenAI. Keeping more than $50 billion in additional revenue would help the company cover those costs.
That creates a straightforward business implication: when AI development requires large computing resources, revenue-sharing terms can become a constraint. A company that owes a large share of revenue to a partner may have less room to fund its own infrastructure needs.
The reported move from just under 20 percent to around 8 percent by 2030 would reduce that pressure. It would not remove Microsoft from the relationship. Instead, it would rebalance how Microsoft participates financially.
In plain terms, OpenAI would keep more revenue. Microsoft would receive one-third of the restructured OpenAI entity. The nonprofit side would also receive another portion. Those are the key pieces described in the report.
Other terms are still being discussed
The report also says the two companies are negotiating over server expenses and contract terms around the potential use of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Those discussions point to issues beyond the headline revenue share.
Server expenses connect directly to the same computing-cost pressure behind the reported revenue change. Contract terms around the potential use of AGI point to another sensitive area in the Microsoft and OpenAI relationship.
The source does not provide final terms for those negotiations. It only says the companies are said to be negotiating over those topics. That leaves several important questions unresolved.
- Whether the revenue share reduction will be finalized as described.
- How the one-third position in the restructured OpenAI entity will work.
- What portion will go to the nonprofit side.
- How server expenses will be handled.
- What contract terms around the potential use of AGI will say.
What remains unclear
One open question is whether the recently announced, non-binding agreement between OpenAI and Microsoft already reflects these revenue changes. The source says it is not yet clear.
That uncertainty is important because a non-binding agreement may signal direction without settling every detail. Based only on the report, the revenue changes may be part of the same broader negotiation, but that connection has not been confirmed.
For now, the reported picture is a tradeoff. Microsoft would lose most of its revenue share, with its cut falling to around 8 percent by 2030. OpenAI would retain more revenue to help cover massive computing costs. Microsoft would receive one-third of the restructured OpenAI entity, but still would not have a board seat.
If completed on those terms, the arrangement would mark a major adjustment in how OpenAI and Microsoft divide value from their partnership. The relationship would remain financially important, but the balance between revenue sharing, entity ownership, nonprofit participation, and operating costs would look very different from the original deal described in the report.