According to a new report from The Information, Microsoft and OpenAI have a very specific, internal definition of artificial general intelligence (AGI) based on the startup’s profits. And by that definition, OpenAI is still many years away from achieving that goal.

The two companies reportedly signed an agreement last year stating that OpenAI will only achieve AGI if it develops AI systems that can generate at least $100 billion in profits. This is a far cry from the strict technical and philosophical definition of AGI that many expect.

OpenAI will reportedly lose billions of dollars this year, and the startup is telling investors it won’t turn a profit until 2029.

This is an important detail because Microsoft will lose access to OpenAI’s technology if the startup achieves AGI, a nebulous term that means something different to everyone. Some have speculated that OpenAI will declare AGI to exclude Microsoft sooner rather than later, but this agreement means Microsoft could have access to OpenAI’s models for a decade or more.

Last week, some debated whether OpenAI’s o3 model was a useful step towards AGI. Although o3 may perform better than other AI models, it also comes with significant computational costs, which does not bode well for OpenAI and Microsoft’s profit-driven definition of AGI.