Two announcements, almost the same day. Perhaps not a coincidence?
OpenAI and Microsoft move from exclusive to non-exclusive partnership. GitHub Copilot moves from pure per-seat pricing to usage-metered AI credits.
The classic Microsoft workplace model was built on per-seat economics plus tight integration. However different in nature, these two shifts may point in the same direction.
We're entering a world where AI models are abundant and competing at the margin, compute becomes the true unit of value—tokens, not seats—agents break the logic of "one license, one human," and platforms can no longer afford to stay vertically locked.
AI is quietly dismantling both: pricing shifts toward metered compute, and ecosystems shift toward interoperability.
Same causes, same effects.
