Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff predicting a dramatic shift in their artificial intelligence partnership. “I think it’s extremely important that OpenAI gets to other platforms quickly because Microsoft is building their own AI and I don’t think Microsoft will use OpenAI in the future,” Benioff said, punctuating his observation with laughter.
The partnership’s strain appears to be evident with OpenAI’s recent plans to expand its cloud infrastructure beyond Microsoft, partnering with SoftBank and Oracle on a $500 billion data center project called Stargate.Benioff highlighted the personal dynamics at play, noting the apparent tension between key executives: “Mustafa Suleyman and Sam Altman are not best friends.”
He pointed to their past interactions as evidence, recalling last year’s Davos conference where “Sam and Mustafa were on panels together and not getting along.” This personal friction coincides with Microsoft’s strategic moves, including hiring Suleyman to lead its AI efforts.
The partnership’s foundation has gradually eroded since Microsoft’s initial $1 billion investment in 2019. OpenAI’s need for expanded computational resources and Microsoft’s own AI ambitions have created increasing distance between the two organizations.
Recent Microsoft AI announcements notably omit any mention of OpenAI, suggesting a potential strategic divergence. The tech giant is reportedly developing its own large language model, MAI-1, further indicating potential independence from the OpenAI partnership.
Benioff, whose Salesforce uses OpenAI’s enterprise models and has invested in competitor Anthropic, seems to relish the developing situation.
