OpenAI warns Microsoft could be a ‘risk factor’ in its business ahead of potential IPO: Report

OpenAI said its close ties to Microsoft could be a risk factor for its business, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing a document similar to its IPO prospectus.

In the document cited by CNBC, OpenAI told investors that Microsoft is responsible for “a significant portion of our funding and IT.”

The financial document that CNBC claimed to have viewed included sections titled “Transaction Related Risks” and “Risks Related to Our Business.” It was shared with potential investors in connection with the company’s latest record financing round.

OpenAI said its operating results will depend on whether it can successfully establish relationships with additional partners outside of Microsoft.

“If Microsoft changes or terminates its commercial partnership with us, or if we are unable to successfully diversify our business partners, our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected,” reads the document cited by CNBC.

However, an OpenAI spokesperson told the media outlet that this was a standard and legal disclosure of risk factors and was not related to any IPO prospectus.

“This is a standard regulatory risk factor disclosure unrelated to any potential IPO disclosure. Similar language has been used 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 and is expected to list in the second half of 2026, Reuters reported last year, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Microsoft has been supporting OpenAI since 2019, years before the company boomed after the release of ChatGPT. At the time, the tech giant received an early commitment from OpenAI to shift some of its services exclusively to Microsoft’s Azure cloud.

Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI to date and said during the AI ​​company’s October 2025 restructuring that its diluted 27% stake in the for-profit part of the organization was valued at $135 billion.

Although they share a tight bond, Microsoft and OpenAI are increasingly competing for new customers and users in the growing artificial intelligence market. In 2024, Microsoft added OpenAI to its list of competitors in its annual report, which for years has included Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta. Last year, OpenAI turned to other cloud providers such as CoreWeave, Google and Oracle to meet intense demand.

Other risks disclosed by OpenAI

While Microsoft remains a significant risk factor in OpenAI’s business, it’s not the only company the AI ​​firm mentioned in its IPO prospectus-like document.

A lot of computing resources are needed to train and run AI models, he said. In this context, the global chip supply shortage will harm the business.

Chip supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was specifically mentioned; This could mean “serious disruptions” for OpenAI if the company is affected by a regional conflict.

Besides risks from other companies, OpenAI has a long list of legal cases to handle.

These include an ongoing court battle with Elon Musk’s xAI and several other cases involving suicides allegedly triggered by ChatGPT.