OpenAI CEO Altman says he spoke with Microsoft CEO about future partnership, NYT reports

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, at Station F, during an event on the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, Pool)

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman had a call with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday and discussed their future working partnership, Altman said in a New York Times podcast on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft, the AI startup’s major backer, and OpenAI are discussing revising the terms of Microsoft’s investment, including the future equity stake it will hold in the startup.

The Financial Times has reported that Microsoft is considering pausing discussions with OpenAI if the two sides remain unable to agree on critical issues such as the size of Microsoft’s future stake.

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“Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come,” Microsoft and OpenAI said in a joint statement.

“Obviously in any deep partnership, there are points of tension and we certainly have those,” Altman told the NYT. “But on the whole, it’s been like really wonderfully good for both companies.”

Altman also said that he had productive talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on artificial intelligence and credited him with understanding the geopolitical and economic importance of the technology.

In January, Trump announced Stargate, a private sector investment of up to US$500 billion for AI infrastructure, funded by SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle.

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Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Anusha Shah in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shinjini Ganguli