OpenAI has said that its close ties with Microsoft could be a risk factor to its business, CNBC reported on Tuesday, citing a document that resembles an IPO prospectus.
In the document cited by CNBC, OpenAI told its investors that Microsoft is responsible for “a substantial portion of our financing and compute.”
The financial document, which CNBC claims to have viewed, included sections titled “Risks Related to the Transaction” and “Risks Related to our Business”. It was shared with prospective investors linked to the company’s recent record financing round.
OpenAI said its operating results will depend on whether it can successfully establish relationships with additional partners beyond Microsoft.
“If Microsoft modifies or terminates its commercial partnership with us, or if we are unable to successfully diversify our business partners, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected,” the document cited by CNBC reads.
However, an OpenAI spokesperson who spoke to the media outlet said that this was a standard and legal disclosure of risk factors and is not related to any IPO prospectus.
“This is a standard legal risk factor disclosure, unrelated to any potential IPO prospectus. Similar language has been in place for years,” the spokesperson said. “Microsoft is and will remain a critical long-term partner.”
OpenAI is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to $1 trillion with an expected listing as soon as the second half of 2026, Reuters reported last year, citing three people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft has backed OpenAI since 2019, years before the company experienced a boom after the release of ChatGPT. At that time, the tech giant had obtained an early commitment from OpenAI to shift some of its services exclusively to Microsoft’s Azure cloud.
Microsoft has till date invested $13 billion in OpenAI and during the AI company’s restructuring in October 2025 disclosed that its 27% diluted stake in the for-profit part of the organisation was valued at $135 billion.
Microsoft and OpenAI have been increasingly competing for new clients and users in the growing AI market even as they share a tight bond. Microsoft in 2024 added OpenAI to its list of competitors in its annual report that has for years included Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta. Last year, OpenAI turned to other cloud providers, including CoreWeave, Google and Oracle, to meet heavy demand.
Other risks disclosed by OpenAI
While Microsoft remains a significant risk factor in OpenAI’s business, it is not the only company that the AI firm mentioned in its IPO prospectus-like document.
It said that it requires a large number of computational resources to train and run its AI models. In this context, a global chip supply shortage will be damaging to the business.
It specifically mentioned chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which if affected by a regional conflict can spell “severe disruptions” for OpenAI.
Other than risks rising from other companies, OpenAI has a long list of legal cases it needs to tackle.
These include an ongoing court battle with Elon Musk’s xAI and several other cases involving suicides triggered allegedly by ChatGPT.
- OpenAI’s heavy reliance on Microsoft poses significant risks to its business model.
- The company is facing multiple legal challenges, including allegations linked to its AI product.
- Diversifying partnerships beyond Microsoft is crucial for OpenAI’s long-term stability.
