NEW YORK: OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman had a call with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Monday and discussed their future working partnership, Altman said in a New York Times podcast on Tuesday. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft, the AI startup’s major backer, and OpenAI are discussing revising the terms of Microsoft’s investment, including the future equity stake it will hold in the startup. The Financial Times has reported that Microsoft is considering pausing discussions with OpenAI if the two sides remain unable to agree on critical issues such as the size of Microsoft’s future stake.

Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment outside regular business hours. “Obviously in any deep partnership, there are points of tension and we certainly have those,” Altman told the NYT. “But on the whole, it’s been like really wonderfully good for both companies.” Altman also said that he had productive talks with US President Donald Trump on artificial intelligence and credited him with understanding the geopolitical and economic importance of the technology. In January, Trump announced Stargate, a private sector investment of up to $500 billion for AI infrastructure, funded by SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle. — Reuters