OpenAI is planning a significant overhaul of its financial arrangements with Microsoft and other partners, with revenue sharing set to fall from 20% to 8% by the end of the decade.

The move could enable the company to retain as much as $50 billion in additional revenue over the coming years, although it remains unclear whether this figure refers to cumulative or annual gains.

The report suggests the change is part of a broader reshaping of OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft, its biggest backer. Both firms recently reached a non-binding agreement that would permit OpenAI to restructure as a for-profit entity, replacing the hybrid nonprofit framework it has operated under since its inception.

In parallel, negotiations are underway over OpenAI’s continued use of Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, which underpins the delivery of its artificial intelligence models to enterprise and consumer clients.

The financial implications of such a shift are significant. OpenAI’s nonprofit parent organisation is currently expected to receive more than $100 billion, based on a private market valuation of around $500 billion, according to the report.

A reduction in revenue sharing would tilt more of the financial upside towards OpenAI’s for-profit arm, potentially giving the company more flexibility to fund research, scale operations, and compete with rivals such as Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and xAI.

Neither Microsoft nor OpenAI has commented publicly on the reported changes. However, the reports arrive at a moment when both companies are rebalancing their roles in the rapidly growing AI industry. Microsoft has integrated OpenAI’s technology across its Office and Azure platforms, while also investing billions in equity and infrastructure.

OpenAI, for its part, has been under pressure to sustain the costs of training and deploying increasingly complex models, which require vast computing resources.

If confirmed, the realignment would mark a turning point in one of the most influential partnerships in the technology sector. It would also underscore the shifting economics of artificial intelligence, where revenue-sharing models, cloud costs, and ownership structures are being renegotiated in step with soaring valuations and mounting competition.