Microsoft and OpenAI's Partnership Originated in 2015

A screenshot shared on X (formerly Twitter) has provided a look at the origins of one of the most powerful alliances in the technology industry. It turns out the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI is older than it is perceived. In fact, the ties between the Sam Altman and Satya Nadella are so old that the Microsoft CEO was still using a Windows Phone to send his emails. The emails, shared by The Verge’s Tom Warren, date back to 2015 – years before OpenAI became a household name with ChatGPT. The exchange shows a young strategic relationship between Nadella and Altman that has since evolved into a multi-billion dollar partnership powering tools like Microsoft Copilot and Azure AI. The most striking detail in the 2015 thread isn't the complex AI theory or the regulation that both the executives are talking about, but Nadella’s mobile signature: “Sent from my Windows Phone.” For tech enthusiasts, this brings back older memories when Microsoft was fighting to make its mobile platform a “third option” alongside the iPhone and Android. The active development of Windows Phone eventually discontinued in 2017, and the final support for all Windows phones ended in early 2020. The documents highlight that the personal rapport between the two CEOs wasn't a sudden development in 2019 or in 2022 when Microsoft announced $13 billion investment but a decade-long conversation about the strategic future of computing. Satya Nadella’s ‘biggest mistake’ The timing of these screenshots brings back Nadella’s admission on the mobile era. In an interview with Business Insider in 2023, Nadella admitted that exiting the smartphone business was one of the most difficult and regrettable decisions of his career. “In retrospect, I think there could have been ways we could have made it work,” Nadella said, suggesting the company could have “reinvented the category” between PCs, tablets, and phones. In 2010, Microsoft officially launched Windows Phone, a visually distinctive and innovative mobile platform. The tiled interface and integration with Microsoft services showed promise. However, it struggled to gain traction in a market which was being captivated first by the iPhone and then Android – dominated by iOS and Android. The app ecosystem was a major drawback, with a lack of popular apps compared to its competitors.