According to the Financial Times, Microsoft was reportedly ready to walk away from critical negotiations with OpenAI—the AI research lab behind ChatGPT—if the talks didn’t go their way. While details are scarce, it suggests tensions over control, investment, or strategic direction might have been brewing behind the scenes.

Editor’s Note: Microsoft and OpenAI’s collaboration is a big deal—it shapes how AI tools like ChatGPT integrate into products millions use daily. If these two tech giants hit rough patches, it could ripple out, affecting everything from software updates to how businesses adopt AI. Even if they smoothed things over (as seems likely), the fact that talks nearly collapsed hints at the high-stakes maneuvering happening in AI’s boardrooms.