 |
|
|
|||||
Microsoft has been one of OpenAIs biggest backers over the past three years, as OpenAIs flagship product, ChatGPT, has steadily embedded itself into our lives. But the multibillion-dollar relationship now appears to be on shaky ground, with rumors that OpenAI might file an antitrust complaint against the Windows-maker in an attempt to wriggle out of a longstanding agreement between the two companies. The relationship, which began with Microsofts $1 billion investment in OpenAI in 2019and has since grown to include more than $10 billion in total fundingis built on Microsofts entitlement to 49% of OpenAI Global LLCs profits, capped at roughly 10 times its investment. For years, the partnership has remained stable. When Sam Altman was briefly ousted as OpenAI CEO in November 2023, Microsoft remained steadfast in its support of the company. But recent events appear to have strained the relationshipspecifically, a new deal OpenAI has made. Whats happening? OpenAIs pending acquisition of AI coding startup Windsurfvalued at $3 billionhas pushed its partnership with Microsoft to the brink. Reports suggest that OpenAI executives have threatened an antitrust complaint if Microsoft insists on full access to Windsurfs intellectual property after the deal closes. At the same time, Microsoft is reportedly uneasy about the prospect of OpenAI developing a competing Copilot product. The two companies did issue a joint statement that conveyed a sense of harmony, though it acknowledged no agreement had been reached regarding Windsurf. We have a long-term, productive partnership that has delivered amazing AI tools for everyone, the companies said. Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come. Experts warn that OpenAI should think twice before following through on its reported threats. Siccing the antitrust cops on your rivals may feel very satisfying, but that strategy usually boomerangs back on the complaining company when they themselves get big and successful, says Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of the Chamber of Progress, a tech industry coalition. Kovacevich argues that such internal disputes may grab headlines but ultimately distract from the broader goals. OpenAI and Microsoft are locked in a pretty intense AI competition with Google, Anthropic, and Meta, and these kind of governance disputes are ultimately a huge distraction from trying to win on the technology front, he says. Which Side Has More Leverage? An internal OpenAI strategy document, recently surfaced in a court case, reveals the companys bold plan to evolve ChatGPT from a popular chatbot into an all-encompassing AI super assistant, positioning it as both a crucial partner and a potential competitor to Microsoft. The document implicitly acknowledges OpenAIs reliance on partners to achieve massive scale, noting the infrastructure required to serve an enormous user base. Until January 2025, Microsoft was OpenAIs exclusive data center provider, in exchange for integrating OpenAIs models into Microsofts products, including Copilot. Since then, the landscape has shifted. OpenAI has signed deals with CoreWeave and Oracle for additional computing capacity, and is reportedly close to an agreement with Googledespite Google offering a competing AI modelfor cloud hosting. Meanwhile, Microsoft still holds a significant share in OpenAIs future profits. There are reports that OpenAI has proposed a deal to exchange Microsofts entitlement to future profits for a 33% stake in a restructured OpenAI. But Microsoft currently retains significant control over whether OpenAI can restructure and, under a 2023 agreement, is also believed to be entitled to access any OpenAI technology, including that acquired through acquisitionspotentially giving Microsoft access to Windsurfs technology for its Copilot coding tools. Whats the best-case scenario for both companies? For Microsoft, maintaining the status quo would likely be ideal. They would continue to access OpenAIs core technology, and benefit from Windsurfs specialist expertise to strengthen Copilots coding capabilities. For OpenAI, the best-case outcome would involve restructuring into a for-profit entity with Microsofts consent, while establishing boundaries to prevent Microsoft from encroaching on areas where OpenAI might eventually compete. OpenAI would also like to diversify its infrastructure partnershaving admitted in legal documents that our current infrastructure isnt equipped to handle [redacted] users. And, perhaps most importantly, OpenAI wants its product to stand on its ownrather than being buried within a Microsoft-branded ecosystem. Real choice drives competition and benefits everyone, the confidential strategy document states. Users should be able to pick their AI assistant. If youre on iOS, Android, or Windows, you should be able to set ChatGPT as your default. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta shouldnt push their own AIs without giving users fair alternatives. Whether OpenAI will achieve that goal remains an open question.
Category:
E-Commerce
An Illinois toy company challenged President Donald Trump’s tariffs in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a long shot bid to press the justices to quickly decide whether they are legal.Learning Resources Inc. filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court to take up the case soon rather than let it continue to play out in lower courts. The company argues the Republican president illegally imposed tariffs under an emergency powers law rather than getting approval from Congress.While the company won an early victory in a lower court, the order is on hold as an appeals court considers a similar ruling putting a broader block on Trump’s tariffs. The appeals court has allowed Trump to continue collecting tariffs under the emergency powers law ahead of arguments set for late July.The company argued in court documents the case can’t wait that long, “in light of the tariffs’ massive impact on virtually every business and consumer across the Nation, and the unremitting whiplash caused by the unfettered tariffing power the President claims.”The Supreme Court is typically reluctant to take up cases before appeals courts have decided them, lowering the odds that the justices will agree to hear it as quickly as the company is asking.Still, Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg said tariffs and uncertainty are taking a major toll now. He’s looking ahead to the back-to-school and holiday seasons, when the company usually makes most of its sales for the year.“All the people that are raising their prices are doing it with a sense of dread,” Woldenberg told The Associated Press. But, “we do not have a choice. We absolutely do not have a choice.”Attorneys for Learning Resources and sister company hand2mind, suggested the court could consider whether to take up the case before the end of the term in June and hear arguments when their next term begins in the fall, a relatively quick timetable.The Trump administration has defended the tariffs by arguing that the emergency powers law gives the president the authority to regulate imports during national emergencies and that the country’s longtime trade deficit qualifies as a national emergency.Trump has framed tariffs as a tool to lure factories back to America, raise money for the Treasury Department and strike more favorable trade agreements with other countries.“The Trump administration is legally using the powers granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to address our country’s national emergencies of persistent goods trade deficits and drug trafficking. If the Supreme Court decides to hear this unfounded legal challenge, we look forward to ultimately prevailing,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.Woldenberg said he’s putting “enormous resources” into shifting his company’s supply base but the process is time-consuming and uncertain.“I think that our case raises uniquely important questions that this administration won’t accept unless the Supreme Court rules on them,” he said.Based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, the family-owned company’s products include the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register for $43.99 and Botley the Coding Robot for $57.99.__Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
The Backrooms started as internet folklore posted on 4Chan. Now its been greenlit by A24. Last week, it was announced that 19-year-old YouTuber Kane Parsons will direct the sci-fi/horror concept The Backrooms for A24, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve set to star. This makes Parsons the youngest director the company has ever worked with. Variety described the upcoming film as “based on the world of Parsons viral YouTube horror universe.” The rest of the plot remains under wraps, with production expected to start this summer. Parsons posted the nine-minute short film The Backrooms (Found Footage) to his YouTube channel, Kane Pixels, in January 2022. The film was inspired by an internet storyor creepypasta (a term used to refer to short horror fiction posted anonymously on internet message boards)that first appeared on 4Chan. Credited as the origin of the internets obsession with liminal spaces, the original post read: If you’re not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you’ll end up in the Backrooms, where it’s nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz. The image accompanying the post was later traced back to a former furniture store in Wisconsin, unoccupied during a renovation. The creepypasta continues: approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you. Drawing on this eerie concept, Parsons original short is set in 1996, when a filmmaker is suddenly transported to the carpeted room with no way out, pursued by something that only appears in his peripheral vision. Following the shorts viral success, the filmmaker and VFX artist has posted further installments to his YouTube channel, which now boasts 2.69 million subscribers. Fans have long called for Parsons Hollywood debut. “This man is actually insane, he manages to create horror that is scarier than 90% of Hollywood horror films,” one fan wrote under his original YouTube video. “I feel like there should be a complete film or series of The Backrooms, another commented. The fandom is gigantic and there’s everything you need for a movie. A24 agrees.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||