Microsoft’s absence from OpenAI’s Stargate announcement follows months of tension between the companies and signals a new era in which the longtime partners will be less reliant on each other. At a White House press conference,

OpenAI and Microsoft have hit back at Elon Musk’s criticism of Stargate, the new $500bn artificial intelligence infrastructure project hailed by Donald Trump as a “resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential under a new president”.

Microsoft will no longer be the exclusive provider of new cloud computing capacity to OpenAI — a new twist in their relationship that clears the way for OpenAI to work with Oracle and others on the $500 billion Stargate AI project announced by the companies Tuesday with President Trump at the White House.