Microsoft books $10 billion from OpenAI ties in September quarter

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Microsoft OpenAI $10B revenue

Highlights

Microsoft generated $10 billion in revenue from commercial arrangements with OpenAI in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, highlighting deep financial ties.
Outstanding receivables from OpenAI rose to $7.2 billion at the end of September 2026, up from $6 billion at the end of June 2026.
OpenAI committed to purchase an additional $250 billion in Azure services under an October 2025 agreement, as exclusive partnership terms loosened and Microsoft's stake declined to 24%.

Quarterly filing details OpenAI revenue exposure

As reported by TechCrunch, Microsoft says in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it generates $10 billion in revenue from commercial arrangements with OpenAI in the quarter ended September 30, including revenue-sharing payments. The total points to the scale of the financial links between the companies, despite their growing competition for some of the same customers.

Microsoft's financial year begins in July, making the quarter ended September 30, 2026 the first quarter of its fiscal 2027. For the full 2026 fiscal year, revenue from OpenAI reaches $24.1 billion.

Microsoft also reports $7.2 billion in outstanding receivables from OpenAI at the end of September, up from $6 billion at the end of June. The company indicates those receivables reflect amounts owed from previous transactions rather than additional revenue.

It is not clear how much of the quarterly total comes from revenue-sharing payments versus Azure cloud computing services. In November 2025, TechCrunch reports, citing leaked documents, that Microsoft receives $865.8 million in net revenue-sharing payments from OpenAI during the first nine months of that year.

Partnership shifts reshape AI market ties

OpenAI reportedly shares 20% of its revenue with Microsoft under an earlier deal tied to Microsoft's investment of more than $13 billion in the AI startup, although neither company publicly confirms that percentage. Under an April 2026 agreement, OpenAI remains obligated to share revenue with Microsoft through 2030, subject to a cap, while also being allowed to work with competing cloud providers.

The companies begin loosening their once-exclusive partnership in October 2025, when Microsoft relinquishes its hold on OpenAI to give the startup more flexibility to partner with other cloud providers. In return, OpenAI commits to buying an additional $250 billion in Azure services under an October 2025 agreement.

Microsoft's ownership stake in OpenAI also declines slightly, from about 25% in June to 24% in September. That extends a gradual reduction from roughly 27% following the October 2025 recapitalization, as the partnership shifts toward a broader commercial and infrastructure relationship.

In our earlier article on the AI-linked tech sell-off, we described how a sharp downturn in semiconductor and AI-infrastructure-related stocks pushed investors to reassess whether projected AI revenues can justify trillions of dollars in spending. We also noted that $110 oil and renewed inflation concerns added pressure by raising the risk of higher-for-longer rates and more expensive financing for capital-intensive AI buildouts.

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