Microsoft to court: ChatGPT subscribers cannot blame us for services they bought from OpenAI, please …

Microsoft is reportedly seeking to distance itself from a lawsuit that alleges OpenAI unlawfully increased the price of its ChatGPT Plus subscriptions. A report claims that the software giant has asked a US federal judge to remove its name from the case, arguing that subscribers cannot hold Microsoft responsible for services they purchased directly from OpenAI.

According to a report by MLex (via TechRadar), the company told the court that the claims rely on speculation and do not demonstrate the direct harm required under antitrust law . The lawsuit centers on allegations that Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI led to higher prices and reduced service quality, claims the company has contested.


What Microsoft’s lawyer said to defend the company


Microsoft's lawyers argued that the judge should handle the case through arbitration instead of federal court if he allows it to proceed. The company’s outside counsel, Julia Chapman, argued that users agreed to arbitration when signing up for ChatGPT, and those terms should also apply to related claims, the report noted.

“Equitable estoppel exists to prevent the plaintiffs from doing just that,” Chapman argued.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the plaintiffs disagreed, saying subscribers did not consent to arbitration with Microsoft. Their attorney, Briane Dunne, told the court that extending such protections to a company outside the original agreement exceeds the doctrine's scope.

Judge P. Casey Pitts expressed some skepticism about the arbitration argument, noting that there may be a connection between the agreements but questioning their relevance to Microsoft.

“There may be some ‘overlap,’ but it’s unclear to me why I’m going to have to think about the agreement with OpenAI,” Judge Pitts added.

The case also involves claims that Microsoft required OpenAI to rely on its Azure systems for computing resources needed to run ChatGPT. Plaintiffs argue that depending on a single provider limited output and contributed to higher costs and slower improvements.

However, Microsoft has denied the allegations, stating that subscription pricing is determined by OpenAI. The company’s legal team also said the alleged arrangement relates to cloud infrastructure, while the claims focus on the consumer AI market . The report claims that Judge Pitts has not indicated how he will rule, leaving both the dismissal and arbitration requests pending.