The Musk vs. Altman trial in Oakland continues to produce explosive documents. On May 7, internal Microsoft emails from 2018 were presented in court — and they paint a surprising picture: Microsoft’s leadership was far from convinced about OpenAI.
Nadella: ‘I can’t tell how this helps us get ahead’
The clearest statement came directly from Satya Nadella. In an internal 2018 email, the Microsoft CEO wrote that he couldn’t tell what research OpenAI was doing and how sharing it with Microsoft could help them get ahead.
Kevin Scott, Microsoft’s CTO, was reportedly ‘highly skeptical of an imminent breakthrough in AGI.’ OpenAI’s work in 2017 was still primarily focused on game-playing systems — for Microsoft, it was unclear whether this would ever become commercially relevant.
The Amazon fear factor
But Microsoft had a problem: if they didn’t back OpenAI, Amazon might step in. OpenAI desperately needed more compute power, and Amazon Web Services was an obvious alternative to Azure.
What started as a technical assessment turned into a competitive strategy decision. It wasn’t conviction in OpenAI’s technology that drove Microsoft forward — it was the fear of losing a future cloud customer to a rival.
From doubts to a billion-dollar partnership
Roughly 18 months after these skeptical emails, Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI. By 2023, that figure had grown to $13 billion in cash and cloud credits. The partnership became the foundation of Microsoft’s entire AI strategy.
The emails reveal that this partnership wasn’t a visionary masterstroke. It was a risk calculation between technical skepticism and the desire to keep Amazon from gaining an edge.
What the trial reveals
Musk argues OpenAI betrayed its nonprofit mission. OpenAI counters that the lawsuit primarily serves Musk’s own AI company, xAI. The Microsoft emails add a third dimension: even the most important partner wasn’t sold on the idea early on.
The verdict isn’t expected before late May. Jurors are set to deliberate starting May 21. More witnesses could still testify before then — potentially including Sam Altman himself and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Sources: WinBuzzer, MIT Technology Review