Microsoft feared OpenAI would defect to Amazon and smear Azure
emails from 2018 reveal microsoft invested $1 billion in openai partly to stop the startup from moving to amazon and badmouthing azure.
Court documents from the Elon Musk v. Sam Altman trial expose Microsoft's internal logic before its $1 billion OpenAI investment. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott told CEO Satya Nadella in 2018 that refusing OpenAI's request for compute funding risked the startup "storming off to Amazon" and "shit-talk[ing]" Azure. While executives questioned the ROI of covering OpenAI's compute costs, Microsoft ultimately moved forward with the deal to prevent competitors from gaining OpenAI's influence and credibility in the AI community.