Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella says Bill Gates almost nuked Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI before it started — “You’re going to burn this billion dollars”

by

The close relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI is both a remarkable success story and one that’s faced a lot of public attention and debate. Microsoft’s $1 billion investment in OpenAI back in 2019 is widely considered one of the most brilliant moves in tech history.

Despite the excitement around OpenAI’s new GPT-5, not everyone agrees on its impact. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, for example, believes OpenAI could ultimately overshadow and even harm Microsoft, predicting a potentially disastrous outcome for the company.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella didn’t appear concerned by Elon Musk’s criticisms. Altman stated he doesn’t spend much time thinking about Musk, describing Musk as primarily focused on posting negative comments about OpenAI and its technology on X (formerly Twitter), claiming the company wouldn’t succeed.

According to Nadella:

It’s been a fascinating 50-year journey of constant learning, improvement, collaboration, and competition! I’m really excited about Grok 4 being available on Azure, and I can’t wait to see what Grok 5 brings!

It’s surprising to learn that Bill Gates initially had doubts about Microsoft’s decision to partner with OpenAI when they first invested $1 billion in 2019 – an investment that has since grown to $13.5 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently shared in an interview on the TPBN podcast that getting the company’s board to agree to the investment wasn’t easy at first.

Even at a company like Microsoft, significant investments—like a billion dollars—require approval from the board. However, it wasn’t difficult to get buy-in for this particular area, as everyone understood it was an important, though risky, venture.

Satya Nadella shared that Bill Gates initially doubted his decision to invest a billion dollars in OpenAI. Gates was concerned because OpenAI was a relatively new company and organized as a non-profit, leading him to reportedly say Nadella would ‘burn’ the money.

Looking back, it’s surprising how well it turned out. I invested a significant amount, knowing it was a very risky venture, but hoping for a huge return. We were willing to take a chance.

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella

Even though there were doubts and it wasn’t clear how they’d make money, Microsoft decided to invest in OpenAI, and that decision has proven to be incredibly successful.

Is Bill Gates still intimately involved in Microsoft’s affairs?

An earlier report indicated that Bill Gates, though now focused on his charitable work, continues to be a key advisor at Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella often seeks and highly values Gates’ input, especially regarding Microsoft’s major advancements in artificial intelligence. Gates was also instrumental in establishing the successful partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff initially thought the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI wouldn’t last, especially after OpenAI announced its ambitious $500 billion Stargate project to build data centers nationwide. He suggested Microsoft might stop using OpenAI’s technology, a prediction that now seems more likely given Microsoft’s recent development of its own, independent AI models.

The announcement follows a new agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI, allowing OpenAI to operate as a company focused on making a profit. As part of this change, Microsoft’s ownership in the organization has decreased from 32.5% to 27%, representing a valuation of around $135 billion.

What exactly is the Microsoft/OpenAI partnership?

Microsoft began partnering with OpenAI in 2019 with a $1 billion investment. This initially gave Microsoft special access to OpenAI’s technology, which it added to its products. However, the partnership has changed over time, and Microsoft is no longer OpenAI’s only cloud provider.

Is Bill Gates still working for Microsoft?

Everyone knows Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft to dedicate himself to charitable work. However, recent reports show he’s still very involved with the company, playing a key role in hiring top leaders and shaping its future with artificial intelligence.

Read More

2025-10-29 14:10