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2017-2018 Microsoft Emails on OpenAI Funding Shown in Musk v. Altman Trial
Emails between more than a dozen Microsoft executives including CEO Satya Nadella dating back to 2018 were shown in federal court on Thursday during the Musk v. Altman trial. The messages reveal early reservations about providing additional cloud computing support to OpenAI despite concerns it might turn to Amazon. Roughly 18 months later Microsoft announced a $1 billion investment in the lab.
May 7, 9:42 PM·3m read2 sources
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Emails between more than a dozen Microsoft executives including CEO Satya Nadella dating back to 2018 were shown in federal court on Thursday during the Musk v. Altman trial. Wired reported that the messages illustrate how leaders at the tech giant were skeptical of further funding OpenAI but wary of pushing the lab into the arms of Amazon.
The email chain kicked off on August 11, 2017 with Satya Nadella reaching out to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to congratulate the lab on winning a video game competition. In 2017 much of OpenAI’s work was focused on building AI systems that could play video games. Ten days after August 11 2017, Sam Altman responded seeking $300 million worth of Microsoft Azure cloud computing services.
“We could figure how to fund some of it but not that much. I think it will be the most impressive thing yet in the history of AI,” Sam Altman wrote to Satya Nadella. Three days after Altman’s request, Satya Nadella asked four lieutenants for their input on how to respond.
’” Jason Zander suggested that Azure would benefit from associating with Musk and Altman but that he wouldn’t want to “take a complete bath” in doing so. A subsequent analysis showed that Microsoft stood to lose about $150 million over several years if it provided the services Altman wanted.
“Unless he can help us draw a more direct networking effect with OpenAI->Microsoft business value, we will wind up having to pass,” Jason Zander wrote.
The thread was revived on January 10, 2018 with an email to Satya Nadella from Brett Tanzer. Sam Altman told Brett Tanzer that OpenAI could license its gaming AI to Microsoft’s Xbox video game division in exchange for $35-50 million in Azure Credits. Xbox couldn’t commit that much money.
