{"slug": "elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft", "title": "Elon Musk's 'OpenAI Is Going To Eat Microsoft Alive' Remark Returns as Microsoft Battles Global Outage", "summary": "A Microsoft global outage on 12 November disrupted Outlook, Copilot and Microsoft 365 services, including Teams functions tied to Exchange Online, with Downdetector recording a peak of 138,058 US Outlook problem reports around 1pm EST. Microsoft said a large number of servers had unexpectedly become unavailable and that there was no indication malicious activity was responsible, while OpenAI and Anthropic both reported failures in their Microsoft 365 connectors. The incident revived Elon Musk's 7 August 2025 remark that 'OpenAI is going to eat Microsoft alive,' made after Satya Nadella announced GPT-5 across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Foundry, and followed changes to the Microsoft-OpenAI agreement giving OpenAI more flexibility to offer products through other cloud providers.", "body_md": "# Elon Musk's 'OpenAI Is Going To Eat Microsoft Alive' Remark Returns as Microsoft Battles Global Outage\n\n## The disruption affected Outlook, Copilot, Microsoft 365 services and connected AI tools, renewing scrutiny of the evolving Microsoft-OpenAI relationship\n\n[Microsoft's global outage](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/microsoft-365-outage-outlook-teams-copilot-1831955) on 12 November disrupted Outlook, Copilot and Microsoft 365 services, including Teams functions that rely on Exchange Online.\n\nAs users encountered interruptions, Elon Musk's remark that OpenAI would 'eat Microsoft alive' resurfaced, renewing attention on the companies' partnership and their expanding freedom to compete in artificial intelligence.\n\nThe comment followed changes to the Microsoft-OpenAI agreement that give the AI company more flexibility to offer its products through other cloud providers, while preserving significant commercial ties between the two firms.\n\n## How Far Did the Microsoft Outage Spread?\n\nThe disruption began on 12 November, with Microsoft initially reporting problems affecting Exchange Online mailboxes in the Americas. It later warned that users worldwide could experience connectivity issues as the disruption spread across its infrastructure.\n\nThe effects extended beyond business email. Because several [Microsoft 365 features](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/microsoft-outlook-outage-exchange-online-teams-1831992) rely on Exchange Online, mailbox problems could also affect calendars, meeting scheduling and other connected workplace functions.\n\nDowndetector recorded a peak of 138,058 reports of [Outlook problems in the United States](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/microsoft-outlook-outage-fixes-fail-worldwide-1832043) at around 1pm EST on 12 November, as users struggled to access their inboxes and send or receive emails.\n\nMicrosoft said a large number of [servers had unexpectedly become unavailable](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sabotaged-microsoft-outage-sparks-fears-insider-threat-amid-massive-global-tech-chaos-1832081), shifting additional traffic and pressure on to the remaining infrastructure.\n\n'We're working to safely return them to service,' the company said in an update posted on X.\n\nBy early Friday, 13 November, Microsoft reported initial improvements in server stability. Affected services remained disrupted as engineers continued working to restore normal operations. The company also said there was [no indication that malicious activity was responsible](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/microsoft-outlook-outage-cyberattack-microsoft-365-updates-1831963) for the incident.\n\nThe disruption also affected AI services connected to Microsoft's systems. OpenAI reported elevated errors affecting its Microsoft 365 connector, warning that new connections could fail and connected tools might not work as expected.\n\nAnthropic also reported that most requests through its Microsoft 365 connector, including mail, calendar and search tools, were failing.\n\n'This issue is caused by a Microsoft 365 service incident,' the company said in its status update.\n\n## Why Has Musk's 'Eat Microsoft Alive' Warning Resurfaced?\n\nMusk made the remark on 7 August 2025, after Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella announced that GPT-5 was being made available across Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Foundry.\n\n'OpenAI is going to eat Microsoft alive,' Musk responded on X.\n\nNadella replied: 'People have been trying for 50 years and that's the fun of it!'\n\nThe exchange came as Microsoft was also expanding its work with Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI. On 19 May 2025, Microsoft announced that Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini were available through Azure AI Foundry.\n\n## Is OpenAI Now a Direct Threat to Microsoft?\n\nMusk returned to the competition question in November 2025, after OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman discussed the possibility of replacing traditional office productivity tools, including documents, presentations, email and Slack, with AI agents that could work together and escalate important matters to human users.\n\n'As I was saying, OpenAI will compete directly with Microsoft,' Musk wrote on X on 9 November 2025.\n\nUnder an amended agreement announced on 27 April 2026, OpenAI gained the freedom to offer its products through any cloud provider.\n\nMicrosoft remained its primary cloud partner, and OpenAI products would continue to launch first on Azure unless Microsoft could not or chose not to support the required capabilities. Microsoft also retained its position as a major shareholder.\n\nThe agreement maintained OpenAI's revenue-sharing payments to Microsoft through 2030, subject to a total cap, while ending Microsoft's own revenue-sharing payments to OpenAI.\n\nThe outage has brought renewed attention to Musk's comments, but does not establish that his prediction about Microsoft's future is coming true. The revised agreement preserves significant commercial ties between the companies.\n\n© Copyright IBTimes 2026. All rights reserved.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft", "canonical_source": "https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/microsoft-outage-revives-musk-openai-warning-1832146", "published_at": "2026-11-13 14:00:23+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-11-13 14:24:14.017921+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["Microsoft", "OpenAI", "Elon Musk", "Satya Nadella", "Anthropic", "xAI", "Copilot", "Exchange Online"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/elon-musk-s-openai-is-going-to-eat-microsoft-alive-remark-returns-as-microsoft.jsonld"}}