Microsoft publicly warns OpenAI that its AWS partnership may violate its exclusive Azure contract

Microsoft has signaled concern that OpenAI's plan to release an AI agent product through Amazon Web Services could violate OpenAI's contractual obligation to run models exclusively on Microsoft's Azure cloud, with a Microsoft spokesperson stating the company is “confident that OpenAI understands and respects the importance of living up to its legal obligations.” The disputed product, developed as part of OpenAI's new investment and business partnership with AWS, would let AWS customers build AI tools using OpenAI models through what AWS describes as a stateful runtime environment, which it argues sidesteps Microsoft's exclusive rights by offering custom development tools rather than directly selling model APIs. Microsoft holds exclusive rights to host and sell OpenAI's models via API to cloud customers, and senior executives have grown concerned that the AWS product, expected to launch in the coming months, crosses that contractual line.