According to reports, both Apple and Nvidia are interested in participating in the upcoming funding round for the artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.
It has been reported that OpenAI, which is backed by major industry players such as Microsoft, will now also receive funding from Apple and Nvidia.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the upcoming OpenAI fundraising round is expected to raise its valuation above $100 billion. Leading the round will be venture capital firm Thrive Capital, with participation from Microsoft, and the total amount raised is expected to be several billion dollars.
It is uncertain how much funding Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft will contribute to the company. According to the report, Microsoft currently holds the largest stake in the AI company, having invested $13 billion since 2019 and owning 49% of the startup’s profits.
OpenAI’s technologies are employed by Microsoft in their enterprise offerings, including Azure, as well as integrated into their Edge browser and Bing search platform. Additionally, a partnership between Apple and OpenAI has resulted in the integration of OpenAI’s chatbot into the Apple Intelligence suite, enabling Siri to handle intricate inquiries.
If the bankruptcy rumors are indeed accurate, OpenAI could make use of these investments.
According to a report by The Information in July, OpenAI is projected to allocate approximately $7 billion for AI training and an additional $1.5 billion for staffing. This significant investment may compel the company to seek additional funding in the coming year in order to sustain its operations.
Despite investing in OpenAI, it is possible that Apple does not intend to fully rely on its own LLMs and AI products. According to early testers of Apple’s Intelligence suite, the AI technology is not yet as advanced as desired. In fact, there are rumors circulating that the iPhone 16 may not even feature this technology upon its release.
Apple usually does not invest in potential competitors to its own software services. Furthermore, with major tech giants supporting OpenAI, Google is facing a difficult task in trying to keep up with its own AI products.
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