Although both companies share a common destiny, Microsoft and OpenAI are not two hands on one stomach.

This emerges from an article in the Wall Street Journal, which is based on testimonials from internal sources at Microsoft. The American newspaper speaks of an “unconventional” partnership between the two AI superpowers: Microsoft and OpenAI are partners, but also competitors. Members of Microsoft’s AI teams complain that they have limited access to OpenAI’s technology and often have to compete with their peers in sales pitches.

Bing vs ChatGPT

Tensions have been mounting for months. A turning point in the relationship came with the February launch of Bing Chat, the AI ​​chatbot Microsoft is using to undermine Google’s search monopoly. OpenAI would have warned Microsoft that the underlying GPT 4 model was far from ready at this point. This warning proved to be justified, because in the first few weeks the chatbot regularly got out of joint.

On the other hand, Microsoft was also not pleased that OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in December. While ChatGPT fueled the hype about generative AI, which Bing was also able to push through, Microsoft would have liked to have had the world first for itself.

do the same

Coincidentally or not, Wired ran an in-depth interview with Satya Nadella around the same time as the Wall Street Journal article. In this interview Nadella explains again why Microsoft pumped so many billions into OpenAI. “We saw ourselves doing the same thing, so we thought it would be more efficient to join forces,” Nadella says. OpenAI, on the other hand, needed a partner with an extensive cloud infrastructure, which made Microsoft an interesting partner.

The CEO also admits that the launch of Bing Chat was not smooth, but it was also necessary to make Bing known to the general public: “We have tested Bing extensively, but you cannot simulate certain situations in a laboratory.” This Hallucinations are not always undesirable. It shows that the AI ​​can think creatively, and that was one of the goals Microsoft had in mind, Nadella says.

Either way, Microsoft and OpenAI seem to need each other to win the AI ​​race. While collaboration may not always run smoothly, it is not likely that a break will occur immediately. Both companies have to be careful not to become quarreling parents who stay together for their children.