Microsoft AI CEO says superintelligence is near and partnership with OpenAI has evolved

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said the company completed a new contract with OpenAI in October 2025 that allows both organizations to develop independent models while continuing their existing partnership. Suleyman said the agreement ended an earlier division of labor in which OpenAI focused on research and Microsoft handled product development and enterprise sales.

He said OpenAI later expanded into consumer products, its own data centers, and direct model sales. Microsoft, he said, responded by assembling its own Superintelligence team and building large-scale training clusters. The company announced seven new models across multiple modalities at its Build developer conference this week.

Relationship changes Suleyman said the original arrangement positioned Microsoft as a recipient of OpenAI intellectual property. He said Microsoft now seeks to develop its own world-class models to remain sustainable over the next five to ten years. He described the shift as the next stage in a five- or six-year partnership that still has four to six years remaining under current terms.

Views on superintelligence Suleyman said superintelligence is approaching and will become the most valuable technology of all time. He said Microsoft must avoid long-term structural dependence on any third party for that capability. He also said it is dangerous to describe current AI systems as conscious or alive, citing public discussion of Anthropic’s Claude model.