Microsoft and OpenAI terminate exclusivity agreement: AGI clause officially invalidated, revenue sharing set to be capped in 2030

Core conclusion

On April 27, 2026, Microsoft and OpenAI officially terminated their seven-year exclusive cooperation agreement and revenue sharing mechanism. AGI (artificial general intelligence) clause has been completely removed, OpenAI can now be provided on any cloud provider, Microsoft remains as "primary cloud partner" but no longer has exclusivity. The revenue share was changed to expire in 2030 with an overall cap.

Key Points

• Time of incident: 2026-04-27 -Affected objects: AI developers, API users, automated pipeline operators
• Core changes: OpenAI is no longer bound to Azure and can freely choose AWS/GCP; the AGI clause is officially dead

Background and trigger events

On Monday, April 27, Microsoft officially announced a major revision to its long-term cooperation agreement with OpenAI. This is the third time the parties have renegotiated core terms since they first worked together in 2019.

Microsoft has previously invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, obtaining exclusive cloud service rights and a proportional revenue share. OpenAI has completed its restructuring and transformation from non-profit to for-profit and is preparing for an IPO. As ChatGPT subscription revenue exceeds 10 billion US dollars annually and OpenAI enterprise market expansion becomes urgent, the original exclusivity framework is no longer applicable.

According to The Verge, this agreement change was initiated by Microsoft and OpenAI quickly accepted it. The two parties redefined the partnership in a "breakup but not divorce" approach.

Adaptation suggestions

This change has direct and indirect impacts on users who use AI tools for content production and automated operations:

• More API deployment options: If you rely on OpenAI API for automated content production (such as n8n workflow, Claude Code code agent), you may deploy it through AWS or GCP in the future to enjoy more flexible pricing and regional coverage
• Multi-model strategy is safer: After OpenAI lifts exclusivity, MS may increase investment in alternative models such as Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. Users should build a multi-model orchestration architecture and not rely on a single vendor
• Increased pricing uncertainty: A cap on revenue sharing means Microsoft has an incentive to push OpenAI to control costs. On the contrary, OpenAI may adjust API pricing after losing subsidies, and it is recommended to closely monitor price changes after 2026 Q3

Task List

• Check whether the current AI pipeline has a single cloud dependency and plan multi-vendor deployment
• Follow GitHub Copilot's shift to usage billing (effective on 2026-06-01) and evaluate the impact of AI Credits on your development budget
• Establish API usage monitoring to prepare for possible pricing changes

Example: API call migration evaluation

# OpenAI API
curl -sI https://api.openai.com/v1/models | grep -i "cf-ray\|server"

# OpenAI AWS/GCP ， Marketplace

# AWS Marketplace: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile/...

# GCP Marketplace: https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/...

• The Verge: Microsoft and OpenAI's famed AGI agreement is dead
• GitHub Blog: Copilot is moving to usage-based billing
• HN Discussion (902 points)

AI ， OpenAI、ChatGPT、Azure、DeepSeek、Claude、Gemini、Claude Code、n8n、LangGraph、GitHub Copilot

Internal link guidance

• Want to know how to use AI tools to build automated pipelines? See our Related section
• Want to learn how to make money with AI? See the Related section
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*This article is based on public information such as The Verge, GitHub Blog, Hacker News, etc. The data is as of April 28, 2026. *