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On Friday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its CEO Satya Nadella for their decisive early investment and unwavering support, saying the tech giant's conviction played a defining role in ChatGPT-maker's transformation into an artificial intelligence powerhouse. Microsoft's Early Bet On OpenAI Appearing on Big2Pod on Friday, Altman and Nadella spoke with Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner and discussed the origins and evolution of the partnership that helped shape the modern AI landscape. Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019, putting up about $13–14 billion over several years. In return, the company now holds roughly 27% ownership of OpenAI on a fully diluted basis. Nadella reiterated that Microsoft's initial investment wasn't driven by financial expectations but by belief in OpenAI's mission and potential. He had also disclosed that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was not really in favor of investing in OpenAI initially. “I think you know Bill even said ‘you're going to burn this billion dollars,'” Nadella recalled during an interview with TBPN. “We kind of had a little bit of high risk tolerance.” See Also: AMD, Nvidia, Broadcom's Combined Value Surges 1000% In Just Three Years — And Bulls Want More A Partnership Built On Vision And Trust Altman called the collaboration between the two companies "one of the great tech partnerships ever," acknowledging Microsoft's role as a key enabler of OpenAI's success. "Certainly without Microsoft, and particularly Satya's early conviction, we would not have been able to do this," he said, adding, "I don’t think there were a lot of other people that would have been willing to take that kind of a bet given what the world looked like at the time." He added that when OpenAI began its journey, there was little certainty about how the technology would evolve. "We just had a lot of conviction in this one idea of pushing on deep learning and trusting that if we could do that, we’d figure out ways to make wonderful products and create a lot of value." Microsoft Deepens OpenAI Partnership With 27% Stake Valued At $135 Billion Microsoft's stock has surged nearly 21.72% over the past six months. Earlier this week, the company announced a new phase in its collaboration with OpenAI, converting its investment into a 27% ownership stake in OpenAI Group Public Benefit Corporation, valued at approximately $135 billion. The restructuring solidifies Microsoft's role as OpenAI's exclusive frontier model partner, granting it continued rights to the company's intellectual property and Azure API access until artificial general intelligence is independently verified. Nadella has previously noted that his relationship with Altman dates back to 2016, when the AI startup first adopted Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. As part of the new agreement, OpenAI has committed to an additional $250 billion in Azure cloud purchases, while Microsoft's intellectual property rights have been extended through 2032. According to Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, Microsoft ranks in the 97th percentile for Growth, reflecting its strong long-term fundamentals and robust investor confidence. Click here to see how it stacks up against industry peers. Read Next: After Google's $2.7B Acquisition Of Founders And Staff, This AI Startup Abandons Large Language Model Plans And Shifts Focus Away From Chatbots Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock
