zlacker

MSFT likely has the option to claw back some of their money - they could also cease providing Openai gpu’s. At the extreme, they could do so tomorrow based on their perception of the contract dispute. Although such action would risk reputational damage to MSFT.

At a minimum, taking your largest supplier and customer for a ride is probably a bad idea.

>>lumost+(OP)
It wouldn't be a good idea in a regular business, for sure.

But non-profits aren't a regular business and their ultimate obligation is to their charter. Depending on just what the level of misalignment was here, it's possible that the company becoming nonviable due to terminating Altman is serving the charter more closely than keeping him on board.

No one posting here has enough detail to really understand what is going on, but we do know the structure of OpenAI and the operating agreement for the for-profit LLC make it a mistake to view the company from the lens as we would a regular for-profit company.

>>lumost+(OP)
most of the money likely wasnt paid, and is based on milestones and future returns. I imagine MSFT has some solid licensing bought with their initial payments.

>>lumost+(OP)
The damage would be far more than reputational - Microsoft are starting to roll out “AI with everything” on most of their money-making products. That’s all provided by OpenAI, they can’t just pause for 6+ months and re-implement it with a new provider.

>>cthalu+81
We can view it from any lens.

In any lens if microsoft pulls their GPUs and funding, then OpenAI is through.

No, pissing microsoft off in this situation is not a good idea. Because microsoft can shut the whole organization down.

>>helsin+U2
There is no world in which MSFT ponied up 10 Billion without an escrow of the model. Depending on the partnership terms and next steps of OpenAI - this could be a significant breach.

Given the complex org structure - I wouldn’t be surprised if the non-profit (or at least it’s board) wasn’t fully aware of the contract terms/implications.