Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the tech giant’s early investment in OpenAI might look obvious in hindsight, but at the time, it was far from a guaranteed win. Speaking in a recent interview with tech-focused YouTube show “TPBN,” Nadella revealed that both Microsoft’s leadership and co-founder Bill Gates initially viewed the move as a significant risk.
Microsoft first backed OpenAI in 2019 with a $1 billion investment—just four years after the research lab had launched. The company has since poured more than $13 billion into the fast-growing AI powerhouse. But convincing Microsoft’s board to green-light that first billion wasn’t simple.
“Even at Microsoft, you’ve got to get board approval to just go throw a billion dollars out there,” Nadella said. “It wasn’t hard to convince anyone that this is an important area, but it was going to be risky.”
According to Nadella, Gates was skeptical at the time—especially because OpenAI was structured as a nonprofit. “Bill even said, ‘Yeah, you’re going to burn this billion dollars,’” Nadella recalled. Still, Microsoft’s leadership took the gamble. “We had a little bit of high risk tolerance, and we said we want to go and give this a shot.”
Representatives for Nadella and Gates at Microsoft declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.
That early bet has since transformed the AI landscape. OpenAI became a global sensation in November 2022 when its experimental chatbot, ChatGPT, went viral on social media and hit the one-million-user mark within five days. Usage has surged since then—OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed earlier this month that more than 800 million people now use ChatGPT each week.
This week, OpenAI also announced that it has completed a sweeping corporate restructuring. Under the new model, the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation will oversee a public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group PBC. As part of the shift, Microsoft now holds a 27% stake in OpenAI’s for-profit business—currently valued at roughly $135 billion.
Microsoft’s shareholders appear comfortable with the long-term AI bet: the company’s stock is up nearly 29% year-to-date.