For seven years, Microsoft and OpenAI had a special deal that powered the artificial intelligence boom. The contract included an unusual clause: if OpenAI's board decided the company had built a machine matching human intelligence, it could leave Microsoft's control. That clause is now gone.
On April 27, 2026, Microsoft and OpenAI announced a major restructuring of their partnership. The new terms end Microsoft's exclusive rights to OpenAI's technology, limit the revenue OpenAI must pay Microsoft, and remove the so-called AGI clause entirely.
Until this week, Microsoft held exclusive rights to host OpenAI's models in the cloud. Now, OpenAI can sell its products through other cloud services like Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. This change follows OpenAI's roughly 50 billion dollar agreement with Amazon.
Microsoft is not leaving empty-handed. The company remains OpenAI's main cloud partner and will still see new products debut first on Azure. Microsoft also keeps its approximately 27 percent stake in OpenAI, valued at over 135 billion dollars.
The removed AGI clause is particularly significant. The original contract allowed OpenAI's board to declare the company had achieved artificial general intelligence, which would have ended Microsoft's licensing rights. Legal experts had questioned this clause because no one had agreed on what artificial general intelligence actually meant.
The partnership that began with a one billion dollar check seven years ago is now simply a business deal.