Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI Fight Is Bigger Than a Contract

CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman speaks to members of the media as he arrives at the Sun Valley lodge for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 8, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

I first learned about The Clause from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. During an interview with him in May 2023, I asked about the deal between Microsoft and OpenAI that granted his company exclusive access to the startup’s groundbreaking AI technology. I knew the contract had set a cap on how much profit Microsoft could make from the arrangement, and I asked him what would happen if and when that point was reached. The answer was a bit puzzling.

“Fundamentally, their long-term idea is we get to superintelligence,” he told me. “If that happens, I think all bets are off, right?” He seemed almost jaunty about the ...