You know when two big players that normally don't air their dirty laundry go on record saying everything's fine? That's kind of what happened when Sam Altman popped up on The New York Times' Hard Fork podcast.
He was practically glowing about a recent catch-up call with Satya Nadella—“super nice,” he said—despite whispers that Microsoft (MSFT, Financial) might be rethinking its billions-deep relationship with OpenAI.
Here's the gist: Microsoft's been OpenAI's biggest bankroll, pouring in cash and compute to power ChatGPT. Now they're haggling over the next round—how large a stake Microsoft grabs, what the terms look like if OpenAI fully flips to a profit-chasing model. Altman admitted there are “points of tension,” but stressed the partnership has been “wonderfully good for both companies.” That's CEO speak for “we bicker, but we still click.”
On the side, Altman dropped that he's also chatted AI strategy with Donald Trump—yes, that Trump—and actually gave him props for grasping the tech's global and economic clout. And when the host asked about Mark Zuckerberg's grand “superintelligence” dreams for Meta (META, Financial), Altman couldn't resist a little jab: “I think he believes he's super intelligent.”
How deep Microsoft digs into OpenAI will shape everything from how fast these AI models roll out to who gets first dibs on the newest, most expensive compute power. If the deal shifts—or falls apart—it could tilt the whole AI playing field.
