OpenAI eats into Microsoft’s turf? ChatGPT gains ground in corporate AI race
The corporate AI turf war is only adding strain to an already complex relationship between the two companies.
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The partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, once hailed as one of the most synergistic collaborations in tech, is starting to show cracks—particularly as both companies now find themselves vying for the same enterprise customers, as reported by Bloomberg.
Take Amgen Inc., for example. In 2023, the biopharmaceutical company announced plans to integrate Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant into workflows for 20,000 employees. Microsoft celebrated the win with not one, but three separate case studies. But in a plot twist that underscores the brewing rivalry, Amgen’s workforce has shifted gears, now actively using OpenAI’s ChatGPT for various tasks—such as research and scientific summarization.
“OpenAI has done a tremendous job making their product fun to use,” said Amgen Senior VP Sean Bruich, acknowledging that while Copilot remains useful within Microsoft’s ecosystem—like Outlook and Teams—ChatGPT is being increasingly preferred for broader generative AI tasks.
OpenAI’s Corporate Push Rattles Microsoft Behind the scenes, OpenAI’s growing presence in the corporate AI space is raising eyebrows at Microsoft, which has invested nearly $14 billion in the startup. Microsoft’s sales teams, already under pressure to drive Copilot adoption, now face the awkward reality of being undercut by their own partner.
While Microsoft has relied on deep-rooted enterprise relationships to promote Copilot, OpenAI is aggressively targeting the same clients with direct business offerings, educational tools, and a rapidly expanding suite of enterprise products. OpenAI’s acquisition of Windsurf, an AI coding assistant competing with Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, is the latest sign of its independent ambitions.
The startup claims it now has 3 million paying business users, a sharp 50% increase in just a few months. Microsoft counters that 70% of Fortune 500 firms are using Copilot and that the number of paid users has tripled year-on-year. But the optics remain troubling for Microsoft, especially when its customers are openly experimenting with OpenAI’s tools.
Familiarity and First-Mover Advantage One of Microsoft’s key hurdles is that many professionals were already using ChatGPT informally—well before Copilot entered the workplace. This has given OpenAI a first-mover advantage. Microsoft’s AI chief Jared Spataro downplays this, stating that consumer familiarity doesn’t necessarily translate to enterprise fit. He argued that Microsoft’s strength lies in tailoring models to business needs and ensuring compliance with security protocols.
Still, insiders say Microsoft’s go-to-market push has struggled to clearly differentiate Copilot from ChatGPT. Both tools rely heavily on OpenAI’s foundational models, and updates from OpenAI often appear first on ChatGPT—leaving Microsoft playing catch-up due to internal testing and approval delays.
Companies Test Both Platforms Some companies are hedging their bets. New York Life, for example, is rolling out both Copilot and ChatGPT to its 12,000 employees. The insurer plans to monitor engagement and feedback before making a long-term decision. “Let’s take some time to evaluate usage and adoption, and let’s see what really sticks,” said Don Vu, the company’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer.
Others, like Bain & Co., are seeing stronger internal uptake of ChatGPT despite long-standing ties with Microsoft. About 16,000 Bain employees use ChatGPT, compared to just 2,000 on Copilot, mostly within Microsoft Office applications. “It’s improving, but I don’t think [Copilot] is at the same level as ChatGPT,” said Bain CTO Ramesh Razdan.
Microsoft’s Pricing Edge Under Threat Microsoft has long leaned on its pricing advantage: Copilot costs $30 per user per month, while ChatGPT Enterprise has reportedly gone as high as $60 per user. But that gap may not last. OpenAI is now experimenting with usage-based pricing and bundled discounts for customers who adopt multiple AI products.
Still, Microsoft is scoring some large wins. According to internal presentations seen by Bloomberg, firms like Accenture, Barclays, and Volkswagen each have more than 100,000 Copilot users. CEO Satya Nadella praised these milestones but stressed that the real goal is mass adoption across Microsoft’s product suite.
A Complicated Partnership The corporate AI turf war is only adding strain to an already complex relationship between the two companies. Microsoft has begun investing in other AI startups and is reportedly reluctant to approve parts of OpenAI’s internal restructuring. Meanwhile, OpenAI has built infrastructure for its own subscription offerings, signed deals with Microsoft’s cloud competitors, and is aggressively expanding into the very markets Microsoft hoped to dominate alone.
As the lines between partner and competitor blur, one thing is clear: The battle for AI dominance in the enterprise space is just heating up. And for Microsoft, it may be fighting that battle on two fronts—against rivals like Google and Amazon, and now, against its own billion-dollar partner.
