Almost 3 weeks had gone by. On this day, Henry received an email from Microsoft. He excitedly opened it in both anticipation and fear. Anticipation that he forms collaboration with them and fear, not from getting rejected, but from getting acquisition offers:
Dear Henry,
I hope this message finds you well. My name is Sarah Daniels, and I am a Senior Director of Artificial Intelligence Partnerships at Microsoft.
We recently reviewed the proposal you submitted regarding a potential partnership, and I must say, your AI system has captured our team's attention. Its unique approach to creativity, efficiency, and adaptability aligns remarkably well with the direction we're taking in our AI initiatives, particularly within Azure AI and our suite of creative tools.
Given its potential, we would like to explore the possibility of acquiring your AI system outright. We believe integrating your technology with Microsoft's ecosystem could unlock incredible opportunities for both of us and significantly amplify its reach.
As part of our initial offer, we're prepared to discuss a substantial acquisition package, including a combination of upfront payment and additional incentives such as stock options and a potential role for you in our AI division, should you be interested.
We'd love the opportunity to discuss this further and ensure your vision remains a central part of this endeavor. Please let us know a convenient time for a call or meeting.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Sarah Daniels
Senior Director, Artificial Intelligence Partnerships
Microsoft Corporation
Henry's expression turned sour as he read the rest of the email. This was the third time he got an acquisition offer. Before this email, both IBM and Google had responded with acquisition inquiries. He knew his AI was good but he didn't think acquiring a partnership would be an issue because of it.
Google was the first to respond to his email, it only took a week to receive a response. The mail from IBM came a few days later but he had to wait a total of three weeks for Microsoft. Fortunately, after the first email, the subsequent ones came rather quickly. He had a bunch of back-and-forth with both Google and IBM and they were very keen on acquiring the AI.
Henry was already thinking of abandoning the idea of partnership, they weren't very interested in collaborating as they kept throwing offers to Henry. The amounts being offered weren't small by the way, each time increasing the offer. The offer from Google started at $12 million but subsequently increased to $20 million and he was sure they were coming up with a better offer after he rejected them again. Similarly, the offer from IBM was also in the millions.
The offer from Google also included a job opportunity giving him a leading role in Google's AI research team with up to $750,000 annual salary. These offers, no matter how good they were, wouldn't entice Henry. He had way bigger plans so naturally, he wouldn't let greed for money spoil it. He already figured out how easy it was for him to make money with any of the knowledge he had gotten from the system.
Henry was pretty frustrated at this point, does that mean he wasted his month? He wanted to make something out of it. He sighed in his heart and responded to the mail from Microsoft. If he didn't get the answer he wanted, he'd explore other means.
Dear Ms. Daniels,
Thank you for reaching out with your thoughtful offer and for the interest Microsoft has shown in my AI system. I genuinely appreciate the recognition and the effort your team has put into evaluating the potential of my work.
I wanted to share that I've received partnership and acquisition inquiries from other companies as well. While I currently have no plans to sell the AI, either now or in the near future, I remain open to exploring a partnership that aligns with my long-term vision for its growth and application.
Given Microsoft's resources and expertise in AI innovation, I'm particularly interested in what unique opportunities a partnership with your team might bring. If possible, I'd love to discuss how we could structure a collaboration or if there's room to revisit and refine your current offer.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Best regards,
Henry
Although he was asking for a partnership, this was no different from advertising. Except for publicly showing the capabilities of his AI on their website, no form of collaboration could be seen. He would also offer a percentage of the income for the first year until it reached an amount. Henry didn't mind this because his goal wasn't to make money but system points. Money was just a huge bonus to it.