Microsoft AI chief says company was “set free” from OpenAI to pursue superintelligence

Mustafa Suleyman, the man who once co-founded DeepMind before jumping ship to Microsoft, has announced that his division is now "set free" from OpenAI to pursue superintelligence. Because nothing says freedom like a contractual renegotiation with your largest investment partner, who you've already pumped billions into. The change happened about six months ago, which Suleyman helpfully disclosed in a recent interview—presumably after the lawyers had finished polishing the non-disparagement clauses.

Now Suleyman wants us to believe that was all just a prelude to the real show: Microsoft's own superintelligence push, powered by "custom silicon" and its own researchers. Because clearly, the best way to build something smarter than anything that exists is to clone the team that already did it, then declare independence like a teenager who still wants the allowance.

The timing is impeccable, coming just months after OpenAI's near-collapse and boardroom drama. Suleyman's cheerful announcement that Microsoft is "set free" to pursue AGI sounds less like a strategic pivot and more like a hostage negotiation where the hostage has Stockholm syndrome. Meanwhile, regulators are still trying to figure out whether Microsoft's investment in OpenAI constitutes a merger. Spoiler: it does, but nobody's got the stomach to enforce that. So yes, Microsoft is free—free to race toward the same cliff as everyone else, just with its own branded silicon. Cheers.