Marc Benioff claims Microsoft stopped Salesforce from investing in OpenAI, revealing intensifying rivalry and control battles across the AI industry.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has revealed that Microsoft barred Salesforce from taking part in an OpenAI investment round, highlighting the fierce rivalry and strategic direction that are reshaping the AI industry.

Marc Benioff said in an interview with Matthew Berman of Built for the Future that Salesforce had been ready to invest in OpenAI but was repeatedly unable to do so because of Microsoft’s influence. Microsoft has a strong position in the rapidly expanding AI ecosystem due to its billion dollar investment in OpenAI and its extensive integration of its technology into products like Copilot.

According to Benioff, Salesforce actively sought to invest in OpenAI because it saw the company's long term potential. Even though he maintained strong relationships with OpenAI's leadership, he claimed that Microsoft's contribution in the agreement precluded Salesforce from entering on a professional basis. He continued by saying that Salesforce finally managed to capitalize on the AI rise by investing in a number of other major AI firms, such as Anthropic, Mistra and Cohere. He claimed that these expenditures established Salesforce's pledge to be involved in the creation of the next generation of AI models.

Benioff has previously insulted Microsoft's Copilot product by calling it "Clippy 2.0" and criticized the company's competitive strategies, especially with regard to Slack. His most recent comments heighten industry worries about Microsoft’s growing influence over OpenAI and the broader AI Industry. Meanwhile, Salesforce has been advancing its own AI goals by introducing products like Einstein GPT and integrating generative AI tools across its CRM platform. Benioff has consistently emphasized that Salesforce views AI as a fundamental technology that will transform business operations rather than only a productivity tool.

Thus, Business Fortune is of the view that AI leadership is increasingly being defined by power, partnerships, and positioning.