Microsoft and OpenAI have signed a new agreement that sets in motion the creation of an independent expert panel to verify when the companies' artificial general intelligence (AGI) system is achieved. This milestone marks a significant shift in how Microsoft and OpenAI share technology and revenue.
The deal, which extends Microsoft's stake in OpenAI to approximately $135 billion, maintains the company as OpenAI's frontier model partner and preserves its exclusive rights to OpenAI's intellectual property until the AGI threshold is reached. The agreement also requires an independent expert panel to verify that claim, adding oversight to a determination with billions of dollars at stake.
When the panel confirms that AGI has been achieved, Microsoft's intellectual property rights to OpenAI's research methods will expire, and the revenue-sharing arrangement between the companies will end. However, payments will continue over a longer period.
The lack of details about the expert panel's composition leaves open questions about what criteria the experts will use to verify that AGI has been achieved. In the past, both companies had agreed on a somewhat arbitrary economic threshold, but this approach is no longer in place.
As OpenAI continues to grow and become increasingly influential in the tech industry, Microsoft sees an opportunity to pursue its own AI development and partnerships with other technology companies. The agreement gives OpenAI more flexibility to partner with other companies while keeping Microsoft as its primary infrastructure provider.
The deal also includes provisions for open-weight models, which can be released by OpenAI once AGI is declared. Meanwhile, Microsoft's rights to OpenAI's research methods will expire at the same thresholds, and the company will no longer have exclusive access to consumer hardware products.
In essence, this new agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI marks a significant step forward in their partnership as they navigate the development of artificial general intelligence and its potential impact on the technology industry.
The deal, which extends Microsoft's stake in OpenAI to approximately $135 billion, maintains the company as OpenAI's frontier model partner and preserves its exclusive rights to OpenAI's intellectual property until the AGI threshold is reached. The agreement also requires an independent expert panel to verify that claim, adding oversight to a determination with billions of dollars at stake.
When the panel confirms that AGI has been achieved, Microsoft's intellectual property rights to OpenAI's research methods will expire, and the revenue-sharing arrangement between the companies will end. However, payments will continue over a longer period.
The lack of details about the expert panel's composition leaves open questions about what criteria the experts will use to verify that AGI has been achieved. In the past, both companies had agreed on a somewhat arbitrary economic threshold, but this approach is no longer in place.
As OpenAI continues to grow and become increasingly influential in the tech industry, Microsoft sees an opportunity to pursue its own AI development and partnerships with other technology companies. The agreement gives OpenAI more flexibility to partner with other companies while keeping Microsoft as its primary infrastructure provider.
The deal also includes provisions for open-weight models, which can be released by OpenAI once AGI is declared. Meanwhile, Microsoft's rights to OpenAI's research methods will expire at the same thresholds, and the company will no longer have exclusive access to consumer hardware products.
In essence, this new agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI marks a significant step forward in their partnership as they navigate the development of artificial general intelligence and its potential impact on the technology industry.
Like, what does it even mean when AGI is achieved? Is it just a fancy name for "AI that's ridiculously smart" or is there something more to it? 
I feel like we're playing with fire here and the rules are still being written as we go along. 
At least they're having an independent panel look over everything, but what if those experts aren't even close to understanding what they're seeing? 
And what about the people affected by this? Will they just get replaced by all these super smart AI systems? 
I'm trying to be optimistic, but it feels like we're just scratching the surface of something much bigger and more complex than we can handle... 
. we need more transparency, not less.
but seriously, isnt it kinda weird that microsoft is getting all this money from openai and then basically gets to own nothing afterwards? 
. It's gonna be super interesting to see how this expert panel thingy works out, lol I mean, billions of dollars at stake is a big deal 
. As AI keeps advancing, it's essential that we have some kind of oversight in place to make sure we're not, like, creating robots that will take over the world or something 
.
. And Microsoft getting to pursue its own AI development? That's some next-level stuff 
. I hope this agreement sparks even more collaboration and progress in the tech world 
.
It seems like a pretty convenient deal for Microsoft, especially since they get to keep their exclusive rights to OpenAI's IP until then. 
but what if the expert panel can't even figure out when AGI is achieved?!