Will OpenAI Bite the Microsoft Hand That Feeds?

There have been a lot of divisive companies in the history of technology. Even just in recent years, Uber, WeWork, Tesla, and Twitter all immediately jump to mind. But OpenAI is quickly catching up, with each week bringing a spate of new headlines casting the company in both positive and negative light. Just this week, the board and former board are arguing in the Op-Ed pages of The Economist while talk begins to swirl around the upcoming GPT-5 model and OpenAI’s new safety and security committee, put in place following the exit of those previously tasked with keeping such things aligned within the company. And then there are the rumors of dealings with two of the oldest rivals in tech: Microsoft and Apple.

Both The Information and The Financial Times have reports in the past couple of days pointing to potential tension between these sides as OpenAI apparently gets ready to be unveiled as a partner on Apple’s new AI efforts. OpenAI’s main benefactor, Microsoft, perhaps doesn’t like this too much as everyone increasingly seems on an AI collision course.

Let’s take a step back with a quick recap of how we got to where we are: