Microsoft says it does not own any portion of OpenAI

> "While details of our agreement remain confidential, it is important to note that Microsoft does not own any portion of OpenAI and is simply entitled to share of profit distributions," said company spokesman Frank Shaw.

Weird agreement to have with a non-profit

They're just helping OpenAI be a non-profit by taking on the burden of profits.

It would make things a lot simpler if there were only so many kinds of legal contracts (sale, lease, employment, partnership) and each one was a fill-in-the-blank template.

De facto it feels like they own the whole thing tbh

I wonder if in the future this will look like AOL arguing over whether it owned any of part of Netscape.

Maybe not the best analogy but you get what I'm saying... will OpenAI inevitably lose their first-mover advantage and become completely supplanted by an overwhelmingly long tail of competitive alternatives?

Doesn't need to own it to have rights in case of a breach of contract.

But can dismantle the "board" when unhappy?

weird kind of "board"... anyways, we get the picture...