First Microsoft, now Apple: Sam Altman keeps breaking up with Big Tech.
OpenAI is facing a series of high-profile corporate breakups and legal challenges, including a lawsuit from Apple and a cooling relationship with Microsoft. The article questions whether OpenAI's strategic focus on consumer products over enterprise solutions has hindered its long-term stability.
Why it matters
As a leader in the AI industry, OpenAI's internal stability and corporate partnerships significantly influence the trajectory of global AI development and market competition.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has struck big deals with Microsoft and Apple. Both of them have ended poorly. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images OpenAI has struck important deals with Microsoft and Apple over the last couple years. But Microsoft and OpenAI have more or less called it quits. And Apple is suing OpenAI. These aren't the first Big Tech deals to go south. But these are two high-profile breakups in the same year. Coincidence or trend? A year ago, OpenAI seemed like it had an untouchable lead in the AI race. It was by far the dominant AI platform for consumers. Competitors like Meta were scrambling — and spending a gazillion dollars on new hires — to catch up. Sam Altman had enough cash, and clout, to hire famed Apple designer Jony Ive to build him a mystery device meant to take on the iPhone Ive helped build .
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