SAN FRANCISCO, California: OpenAI is loosening its long-standing exclusive arrangement with Microsoft, allowing the ChatGPT maker to offer its technology across rival cloud platforms in a major shift that could reshape competition in artificial intelligence.

The revised partnership, announced jointly on April 27, keeps Microsoft as OpenAI's primary cloud provider and grants it access to the startup's intellectual property through 2032. However, Microsoft will no longer have exclusive rights to OpenAI's technology, removing a key restriction that had limited the startup's ability to expand across other cloud ecosystems.

The changes also alter financial terms. Microsoft will no longer share in revenue from OpenAI products sold on its cloud, and the revenue OpenAI must share through 2030 will now be capped and no longer tied to technical milestones, including the development of artificial general intelligence.

The overhaul reflects an effort to simplify what had become a complex and sometimes strained relationship. Microsoft's early investment helped propel OpenAI's rapid growth and boosted its own Azure cloud business, but tensions have emerged as OpenAI sought more computing capacity and broader enterprise reach.

The startup has increasingly explored partnerships beyond Microsoft, including deals with Amazon, as it looks to compete more directly with rivals such as Anthropic and prepare for a potential IPO.

In an internal memo reported by CNBC, OpenAI said that the Microsoft partnership had been foundational but had limited the startup's enterprise reach, adding that demand since OpenAI launched on Amazon's cloud had been staggering.

The updated agreement will allow OpenAI to run its services on Amazon's cloud without the technical modifications required under the previous deal, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon is expected to host an event in San Francisco on Tuesday featuring OpenAI executives.

"The new deal with Microsoft was essential for OpenAI to be successful in the enterprise market," said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson & Co. "AWS and Google Cloud enterprise customers have been limited in their ability to integrate OpenAI's products because of the exclusive relationship and will now be more likely to consider OpenAI alongside Anthropic," he added.

Microsoft, for its part, has been working to reduce reliance on OpenAI by developing its own AI models and incorporating offerings from competitors such as Anthropic into products like 365 Copilot.

Analysts say the shift could also ease regulatory pressure. Ending the exclusivity may help Microsoft address antitrust scrutiny in the U.S., the UK, and Europe over concerns that the partnership gave it an unfair advantage in the cloud and enterprise AI markets.