"Microsoft executives had reservations about sending additional funding to OpenAI as far back as 2018 when it was just a small nonprofit research lab, according to emails between more than a dozen Microsoft executives, including CEO Satya Nadella, shown in a federal court on Thursday during the Musk v. Altman trial."
"Several Microsoft executives said in the emails their visits to OpenAI did not indicate any imminent breakthroughs in developing artificial general intelligence. In 2017, much of OpenAI's work was focused on building AI systems that could play video games, which showed early signs of success. But OpenAI needed five times more computing power than it had originally secured from Microsoft to continue the project."
"Microsoft worried that not providing support could push OpenAI into the arms of Amazon, the world's dominant cloud computing provider at the time. Roughly 18 months after the emails were sent, Microsoft announced a landmark $1 billion investment in OpenAI after the lab created a for-profit arm that provided the tech giant with the potential to generate a return of $20 billion."
"After Musk reached out to Nadella, Microsoft in 2016 agreed to provide $60 million worth of cloud computing services to OpenAI at a steep discount. OpenAI consumed the services twice as fast as expected. The email chain kicked off on August 11, 2017 with Nadella reaching out to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to congratulate the lab on winning a video game competition using AI to mimic a human player."
Microsoft executives raised concerns about providing more funding to OpenAI in 2018, when OpenAI was a small nonprofit research lab. Emails among more than a dozen Microsoft executives, including Satya Nadella, described visits to OpenAI as not indicating imminent breakthroughs toward artificial general intelligence. In 2017, OpenAI work included building AI systems to play video games, with early success, but the project required about five times more computing power than originally secured from Microsoft. Microsoft worried that withholding support could push OpenAI toward Amazon, the dominant cloud provider at the time. About 18 months later, Microsoft announced a $1 billion investment after OpenAI created a for-profit arm.
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