A small term What once considered a distant assumption in Openai’s contract with Microsoft has now become a flash point for one of the technology’s largest partners.
The clause states that if Openai’s board of directors announces that it has developed Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), it will limit Microsoft’s contractual access to startup future technologies. According to the Financial Times, Microsoft has reportedly invested more than $13 billion in Openai and is currently pushing for the removal of the clause and is considering leaving the deal altogether.
At the end of last year, tensions over Aji’s sudden key role in the Microsoft agreement poured into a debate about internal research papers, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. Titled “Five Levels of General AI Capability,” the paper outlines the framework for classifying AI technologies in an incremental stage. Sources say the paper could complicate Openai’s ability to announce its AGI, potential leverage in negotiations, through specific assertions about future AI capabilities.
“We focus on developing empirical approaches to assessing AGI advances – reproducible, measurable and useful work for a wider range of fields,” OpenAI spokesman Lindsay McCallum said in a written comment to Wired. “The ‘Five levels’ are early attempts to categorize stages and terms that describe general AI capabilities. This is not a scientific research paper.” Microsoft declined to comment.
Openai noted in a blog post describing its corporate structure that AGI was “excluded from IP licenses and other commercial terms of Microsoft.” Openai defines AGI as a “highly autonomous system that outperforms humans in most economically valuable work.”
The two companies have been renegotiating their deal when Openai was preparing for a reorganization. While Microsoft hopes to announce AGI continues to access OpenAi’s model before the end of the 2030 partnership, one person familiar with the partner discussion told Wired that Microsoft does not believe Openai will arrive at AGI by that deadline. But another source close to the matter described the clause as the final leverage of Openai. Both sources are granted anonymity and can freely talk about private discussions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Openai even considered whether to call the clause based on an AI coding agent. These negotiations have been reportedly so difficult that Openai reportedly discussed whether it should publicly accuse Microsoft of anti-competitive behavior.
A source familiar with the discussion talked freely anonymously, saying Openai is close to implementing AGI. Altman said he hopes to see it during Donald Trump’s current tenure.
The same sources suggest that there are two relevant definitions: First, OpenAI’s board of directors can unilaterally decide that the company has defined AGI in accordance with its bylaws, which will immediately cut Microsoft and thus lose access to the technology or revenue obtained by AGI; Microsoft still has all rights ahead of this milestone. Second, the contract includes the concept of sufficient AGI added in 2023, which defines AGI as a system that can generate a certain level of profit. If Openai asserts that it has reached the benchmark, then Microsoft must approve the OK. The contract also prohibits Microsoft from pursuing AGI by itself or through third parties.
