Microsoft exclusively licenses OpenAI's groundbreaking GPT-3 text generation model

Microsoft's ongoing partnership with San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research company OpenAI now includes a new exclusive license on the AI firm's groundbreaking GPT-3 language model, an auto-generating text program that's emerged as the most sophisticated of its kind in the industry. The two companies have been entwined for years through OpenAI's use of the Azure cloud computing platform, with Azure being how OpenAI accesses the vast computing resources it needs to train many of its models. Last year, Microsoft made a major $1 billion investment to become OpenAI's exclusive cloud provider, a deal that now involves being the exclusive licensee for GPT-3. OpenAI released GPT-3, the third iteration of its ever-growing language model, in July, and the program and its prior iterations have helped create some of the most fascinating AI language experiments to date. It's also inspired vigorous debate around the ethics of powerful AI programs that may be used for more nefarious purposes, with OpenAI initially refusing to publish research about the model for fear it would be misused.