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Some Microsoft insiders worry the company's AI strategy has become too focused on its partnership with OpenAI.

A few even grumble that the software giant has turned into a glorified IT department for the hot startup. These comments were part of a recent exclusive story from Business Insider in which Microsoft insiders shared candid views on the company's AI future and its new Copilot tools.

The group at the center of this is Microsoft's AI Platform team, run by Eric Boyd. This sits within Scott Guthrie's Cloud + AI organization.

Insiders say Microsoft is focused less on the internal services that previously made up Azure AI Services and more on the Azure OpenAI service.

One former executive who left as a result of the changes said products like Azure Cognitive Search, Azure AI Bot Service, and Kinect DK are practically gone. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said these services exist in some form but either aren't part of the Azure AI org, have been renamed, or have been bundled with other products.

"The former Azure AI is basically just tech support for OpenAI," a former Microsoft executive said. "Eric Boyd is effectively maintaining the OpenAI service. It's less of an innovation engine