Microsoft AI chief: Contract change frees company to pursue superintelligence

Microsoft's AI division, led by Mustafa Suleyman, has been granted contractual freedom from OpenAI to pursue its own superintelligence research. This strategic shift allows Microsoft to leverage its own researchers, data, and custom silicon for developing advanced AI models, exemplified by the new 'MAI' family of seven in-house models. While maintaining its partnership with OpenAI, Microsoft is now building a parallel AI capability, aiming for self-sufficiency in frontier model development by 2030. This move signifies a major inflection point, enabling Microsoft to control its AI destiny and integrate advanced capabilities directly into its enterprise offerings.