Microsoft and OpenAI may be working on a decidedly newfangled technology, but they’re haggling over an age-old business question: How much equity should I get for my investment?  The two companies each hired investment banks to help answer how Microsoft’s roughly $13.

Microsoft is in high-stakes talks with OpenAI over the tech giant's equity stake, as the artificial intelligence (AI) firm prepares to become a for-profit company from a non-profit. Both the companies have consulted investment banks for the negotiations.

The alliance between the technology giant and the company behind OpenAI has been hugely consequential — but a disruption could shake up the A.I. race.