Apple is in talks to invest in OpenAI, a move that would cement ties to a partner integral to its efforts to gain ground in the artificial-intelligence race. The investment would be part of a new OpenAI fundraising round that would value the ChatGPT maker above $100 billion, people familiar with the situation said. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that venture-capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the round, which will total several billion dollars, and Apple rival Microsoft is also expected to participate. It couldn’t be learned how much Apple or Microsoft will invest into OpenAI this round. To date, Microsoft has been the primary strategic investor into OpenAI. It owns a 49% share of the AI startup’s profits after investing $13 billion since 2019. Apple in June announced OpenAI as the first official partner for Apple Intelligence, its system for infusing AI features throughout its operating system. The new AI will feature an improved Siri voice assistant, text proofreading and creating custom emojis. Some of the new AI tasks Apple announced would be handled by Apple’s own AI technology. For more complicated AI tasks, such as generating a written message, Apple would use OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s talks to invest in OpenAI underscores its dedication to ensure it maintains access to this technology. OpenAI faces intense competition from other AI startups and big tech companies, but ChatGPT remains a market leader. Apple hopes to join with other companies and incorporate their generative AI into the new system. It is launching with ChatGPT because “we wanted to start with the best,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software, at the June developers conference.
Full report : Apple, Nvidia Are in Talks to Invest in OpenAI.
