Microsoft's Biggest AI Customer Is Also Its Biggest Risk

Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) fiscal 2026 annual report, filed in late July, put a hard number on a relationship investors have largely had to gauge from the outside. The company booked $24.1 billion of revenue from its commercial arrangements with OpenAI, and the ChatGPT maker owed Microsoft $6.0 billion at June 30.

For perspective, Microsoft's total revenue for fiscal 2026 (the 12 months ended June 30) was $331.8 billion, up 18% year over year. OpenAI alone contributed about 7% of it. No other customer is identified, or given a number, in the filing.

In my view, that one line conveys both sides of the Microsoft story. The company owns a big chunk of OpenAI, so it benefits if the ChatGPT maker keeps scaling. But it's also spending huge amounts building infrastructure for a customer that reportedly spends much more cash than it brings in.

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