Microsoft received $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI in a quarter

Quarterly revenue and debt

Microsoft disclosed in regulatory filings $10 billion in revenue from commercial agreements with OpenAI, including revenue-share payments, for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, TechCrunch reports. That is nearly 11% of the company's total quarterly revenue of $92.3 billion. Microsoft's fiscal year begins in July, so this quarter is the first of its fiscal 2027. For the full 2026 fiscal year, revenue from OpenAI reached $24.1 billion; at the current quarterly pace, that is equivalent to roughly $40 billion a year.

OpenAI's debt and payment structure

In addition to revenue, Microsoft reported $7.2 billion in receivables from OpenAI at the end of September, up from $6 billion at the end of June. This money represents amounts OpenAI owes for previous deals, not additional revenue. It is unknown how much of the revenue came from the revenue share and how much from Azure cloud services; TechCrunch has requested clarification. In November 2025, the outlet reported, citing a leak,that Microsoft received $865.8 million in net revenue-share payments from OpenAI in the first nine months of that year.

Partnership terms and stake dilution

According to available information, OpenAI shares 20% of its revenue with Microsoft under the earlier deal, under which the software giant invested more than $13 billion in the startup; neither party has officially confirmed this percentage. Under the April 2026 agreement, OpenAI is required to continue sharing revenue with Microsoft until 2030, subject to a cap, while being allowed to work with competing cloud providers. The loosening of terms began in October 2025, when Microsoft gave up exclusivity in the partnership and OpenAI committed to purchasing an additional $250 billion of Azure services. Microsoft's stake in OpenAI fell from about 25% in June to 24% in September, continuing a gradual decline from about 27% after the October 2025 recapitalization; Microsoft did not clarify the reason for the dilution.

Partners and competitors at the same time

The reported figures show how close the financial ties between the companies remain, even as they increasingly compete for the same customers. TechCrunch previously reported that Microsoft, according to available information, trained its salespeople on arguments against OpenAI and Anthropic, and later — that the companies are competing more openly than ever, including for the same customers. Thus, the growth in revenue from OpenAI goes hand in hand with mounting competition: Microsoft is simultaneously profiting from the partnership and promoting its own solutions against its partner.