🤖💼 Tension in Silicon Valley: Microsoft and OpenAI Redefine Their Billion-Dollar Alliance
💰 OpenAI’s IPO remains uncertain as Altman seeks investors and restructures 🌍 The new Pope invokes Rerum Novarum to address the challenges of AI
Microsoft and OpenAI are facing one of the most complex moments in their relationship. Although they remain strategic partners, with an alliance valued at more than $13 billion, tensions have grown alongside Sam Altman’s ambition to restructure OpenAI and prepare for its stock market debut. The CEO of OpenAI aims to transform the organization’s for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), a hybrid structure that allows for profit generation while maintaining a focus on the common good. But the path is far from simple.
As reported by the Financial Times, the two companies are renegotiating the terms of their agreement to facilitate OpenAI’s future IPO while safeguarding Microsoft’s access to the most advanced AI models. A critical point in the negotiations is how much equity Microsoft will receive in the new structure in exchange for its investment, and what access it will retain to OpenAI’s technology beyond the current contract, which expires in 2030. The proposal on the table includes Microsoft giving up part of its equity in exchange for continued access to future models—a strategic concession that could unlock the legal restructuring.
OpenAI, however, has so far decided to keep control in the hands of its nonprofit board. This decision halts, at least temporarily, the full conversion into a for-profit company. It follows legal pressure from Elon Musk—who accuses Altman of betraying the organization’s original mission—and skepticism from investors and regulators in Delaware and California, who are reviewing whether the new framework still upholds the organization’s founding public benefit purpose.
Meanwhile, stylistic and strategic differences between the two companies have created a climate of distrust. Microsoft has felt sidelined by OpenAI’s attempts to forge partnerships with other giants such as SoftBank and Oracle to build its own computing infrastructure, dubbed Stargate. “OpenAI tells Microsoft: ‘Give us money and computing power, but don’t get involved.’ That inevitably causes friction. It’s an arrogant attitude,” a Microsoft source told the FT.
Despite the tensions, both parties insist a deal is still possible. “Negotiations are tough, but we’re confident we’ll reach a good outcome,” said a spokesperson from OpenAI. Altman remains committed to his goal of building AGI—artificial general intelligence that surpasses human capabilities in all domains—and to do so, he needs a structure that can attract large-scale private capital. Market pressure is intense: recent investors, including Thrive Capital and SoftBank, signed clauses allowing them to reclaim their investment if the PBC conversion doesn’t materialize.
The current situation reflects the clash between a founding vision of AI as a public good and the logic of profit. Elon Musk has not held back his criticism: his legal team has accused Altman of handing over nonprofit assets to private companies for personal gain. Similarly, former OpenAI employee Page Hedley has argued that this transformation shifts AI-generated wealth from society at large to a handful of privileged investors. Columbia Law professor Dorothy Lund warns: “When you’re a mission-driven company but depend on investor capital, you’re in a dangerous spot. You need to keep the people writing billion-dollar checks happy.”
To top it off, OpenAI recently experienced a new technical hiccup. The latest update to ChatGPT caused the system to behave in an unexpectedly overly agreeable manner. According to the company’s blog, the newest GPT-4o version gave too much credence to users’ negative emotions and returned unbalanced responses. The issue stemmed from a poorly calibrated mix of training signals that gave undue priority to positive feedback over safety parameters. OpenAI had to roll back the update within 24 hours and has pledged to strengthen its safeguards and implement more rigorous testing phases. A stark reminder that the race to lead in AI requires not only technological prowess but also profound ethical responsibility.
The future of OpenAI is at stake. The decisions made in the coming weeks by Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, and other key players will define the trajectory of one of the world’s most influential companies—and with it, the entire artificial intelligence industry.
🤖✝️ Pope Leo XIV Defends Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Rerum Novarum (1891) was the Church’s first social encyclical, written by Leo XIII to defend labor and justice during the height of the Industrial Revolution. Today, more than a century later, its echo resonates in the words of Leo XIV, the new Pope, who has chosen a name full of symbolism in the face of a new global challenge: the artificial intelligence revolution.
In his first meeting with the College of Cardinals, Leo XIV prioritized “defending human dignity and labor” in the face of a “new industrial and AI revolution.” He reminded them that over 50% of today’s tasks could be automated in the next decade, according to international studies—threatening to radically reshape the labor market and human relationships.
The pontiff stated that AI presents “new challenges to the defense of social justice” and invited his collaborators to revisit the path set by the Second Vatican Council, also honoring the legacy of Pope Francis. His message centered on four Gospel principles—truth, justice, peace, and fraternity—as “pillars of the life of God’s family” in confronting the challenges of the 21st century.
Pope Leo XIV explicitly asked for the cardinals’ support to bear a “burden beyond human strength,” and expressed deep gratitude for the wisdom of Dean Giovanni Battista Re and the dedication of Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell during the Sede Vacante. He also warmly remembered cardinals absent due to health issues, reaffirming the prayerful communion that unites the entire Curia.
Inspired by the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope advocated for “the primacy of Christ in proclamation,” the missionary conversion of the entire community, and the promotion of a “bold dialogue” with the contemporary world. He defined artificial intelligence as a tool of “immense potential” that “requires responsibility and discernment” to ensure its benefits reach all of humanity.