CSC Financial: Microsoft and OpenAI update cooperation agreement, Amazon and Google welcome good news

CMB International Securities published a report stating that OpenAI, Microsoft, and Amazon have restructured their cooperation relationship. Microsoft has terminated its exclusive use rights to the OpenAI model and adjusted the cooperation relationship to a non-exclusive agreement, effective until 2032. The cooperation mode has also shifted from the previous indefinite cooperation with AGI to a fixed-term cooperation. Overall, this adjustment signifies a shift in the AI industry from "cloud platform lock-in" to a more open multi-cloud model, enhancing competition between cloud providers and large models, and providing enterprise customers with greater flexibility in model and infrastructure combinations. Marginally, the firm believes this is more advantageous for Amazon and Google's cloud business, allowing them to access the OpenAI model and solidify their neutral AI infrastructure strategy with multiple models and partners. As for Microsoft, the firm holds a more neutral and balanced view on this transaction. Negative factors include losing the exclusive cooperation with OpenAI weakening Azure's differentiation advantage in the field of AI, potentially causing some drag on the marginal growth elasticity of cloud business. Positive factors include better financial terms, continued large-scale Azure resource consumption, holding about 27% of OpenAI's equity, and participating in its long-term growth. Furthermore, this arrangement also opens up more potential financing channels for OpenAI, to some extent safeguarding the existing investment value of Microsoft in OpenAI.