Microsoft has resigned from its seat on OpenAI's board.
Stating that its participation is no longer needed, as the creator of ChatGPT has improved its governance after last year's boardroom chaos.
In a letter, Microsoft confirmed that it is resigning "with immediate effect" from its role as an observer on the board of the artificial intelligence company.
"We appreciate the support shown by OpenAI's leadership and OpenAI's board as we made this decision," the letter said.
The surprise departure comes amid increasing scrutiny from antitrust regulators over the powerful AI partnership. Microsoft reportedly invested $13 billion in OpenAI.
European Union regulators announced last month that they would take another look at the partnership under the antitrust rules of the 27-nation bloc, while UK competition watchdogs are also examining the deal.
Microsoft took a board seat after a power struggle in which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was fired and then quickly reinstated, while the board members behind his dismissal were removed.
"Over the past eight months we have witnessed significant progress made by the newly formed board and are confident in the direction the company is taking," Microsoft wrote in its letter. "Given all of this, we no longer believe our limited observer role is necessary." After Microsoft's departure, OpenAI will no longer have observer seats on its board. "We are grateful to Microsoft for expressing confidence in the board and the direction the company is taking, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership," OpenAI said in a statement. It is not difficult to conclude that Microsoft's decision to resign from its board seat was heavily influenced by growing scrutiny of large technology companies and their ties to AI startups, said Alex Haffner, a competition partner at the UK law firm Fladgate. "It is clear that regulators are focusing on the complex web of connections that large technology companies have created with AI suppliers, hence the need for Microsoft and others to carefully consider how they structure these arrangements in the future," he said.
OpenAI said it would adopt a new approach to "informing and engaging key strategic partners" such as Microsoft and Apple, as well as investors such as Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures, by organizing regular meetings to update stakeholders on progress and ensure stronger cooperation on safety.
Concepts from the article
AI — Artificial Intelligence. A set of methods and systems performing tasks that usually require human reasoning, learning, perception, or content generation. In HEXX AI CMS it includes language models, document analysis, and automations.
Why it matters: It takes over repetitive tasks — transcriptions, descriptions, translations, selection — and shortens the path from idea to publication. In a newsroom, it means more time for work a machine cannot do: judgment, contacts, decisions.
When it is used: For generating and editing content, document analysis, transcription, translation, and automating the flow of materials.
What happens if it is omitted: Without AI, the team performs bulk work manually (photo descriptions, language versions, summaries), while competitors publish faster and more cheaply.
