>>srouss+(OP)
The reality was different. Prior to MSFT, Open AI ran a lean company operating within the the budget of Musk funding, focusing on science and talent. For example, in 2017, their annual compute spend was <$8 million compared to like 450 million for deep mind.
Big spend only came after MSFT, which invested $1B and then $10B, primarily in the form of credit for compute.