OpenAI’s Payments to Microsoft Revealed in Leaked Documents

What happened

Leaked documents revealed details about the revenue-share payments OpenAI makes to Microsoft. The documents also provide information on the costs OpenAI incurs for inference, the process of using AI models for generating outputs.

Why it matters

• The revenue-share agreement impacts the financial relationship between two major AI companies.
• Understanding inference costs sheds light on OpenAI’s operational expenses.
• These financial details inform the broader AI industry about partnership economics and cloud service usage.

Key facts

1. 1. OpenAI pays Microsoft 20% of much of its revenue under their agreement.
2. 2. Microsoft holds an investment in OpenAI valued at approximately $135 billion, representing roughly 27% ownership on an as-converted diluted basis.
3. 3. OpenAI has contracted to purchase an incremental $250 billion of Azure services as part of their partnership.