Throughout the time when large language models (LLMs) have become the center of tech attention, the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft was seen as a solid pillar. Microsoft invested tens of billions of dollars into OpenAI in exchange for preferred and in many ways exclusive access to their models through the Azure platform. As Forbes reports, however, this situation is changing. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is now moving toward a model that is much more open to various cloud infrastructures.

Why is OpenAI abandoning exclusivity?

The main reason is not an effort to weaken Microsoft, but the need for scaling. In order for OpenAI to fulfill its ambition of being a dominant player in the global market, a single cloud platform is not enough. To achieve maximum reach, it needs to be available everywhere – where companies already have their data, their servers, and their processes.

This shift brings the concept of a multi-cloud strategy. For technology companies, this means they do not have to migrate all their data to Microsoft Azure just to gain access to the best GPT models. They can stay with their existing provider (for example, Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud) and still use cutting-edge AI from OpenAI. This significantly reduces the risk of so-called vendor lock-in, a situation where a company is dangerously dependent on a single technology supplier.

Market comparison: GPT vs. Gemini vs. Claude

This change will fundamentally affect the competitive battle among the biggest players. Until now, the situation was clearly divided: Microsoft and OpenAI against Google (Gemini) and Anthropic (Claude). If OpenAI becomes available on Google Cloud as well, Google will find itself in a paradoxical situation where it will be providing infrastructure for its biggest competitor.

For comparison, current benchmarks (e.g., in the area of logical reasoning and programming) show that GPT series models still hold the top spot by a narrow margin, but models like Claude 3.5 Sonnet from Anthropic and Gemini 1.5 Pro from Google are at this level in many aspects, such as long-context analysis. The ability to use GPT on various clouds thus levels the playing field, and companies will be able to choose models based on their performance and price, not on where their data is located.

Practical impact for users and companies in the Czech Republic

What does this mean for the Czech user or a medium-sized Czech company? There are several possibilities:

• Greater availability and lower latency: If your company uses Google or AWS services, you will be able to integrate ChatGPT directly into your existing systems without the need for complex interconnection of different clouds.
• Price competition: More providers means more options for negotiating API (application programming interface) prices, which can reduce the costs of operating AI applications in the long run.
• Localization and Czech language: OpenAI models already handle the Czech language very well. Expansion to additional clouds does not mean a change in the quality of Czech, but rather better service stability for Czech developers who can use local infrastructure.

From the perspective of EU regulation (AI Act), this step is also interesting. Companies in Europe place great emphasis on data sovereignty. The ability to choose between different cloud providers for the same OpenAI model can help companies better meet requirements regarding exactly where their sensitive data is processed.

Prices and availability

For regular users, the price of a ChatGPT Plus subscription does not change (it costs approximately 20 USD per month, which is around 480 CZK when converted). For companies, the price depends on API usage, where you pay for the amount of processed tokens (pieces of text). Expansion to additional clouds will probably not change the price per token itself, but it can change the costs of data transfer and integration.

Conclusion

OpenAI is ceasing to behave like a closed ecosystem tied to one giant and is beginning to behave like a universal technology standard. For us in the Czech Republic, this means greater freedom in tool selection and fewer barriers to implementing cutting-edge artificial intelligence into our business processes.