The world’s biggest tech companies, including Apple and Nvidia, have been in discussions about investing in OpenAI, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg report, citing anonymous sources. The maker of ChatGPT is looking to raise “several billion dollars” in a new funding round that values it at more than $100 billion, according to the Journal.
Microsoft was already OpenAI’s biggest funder, having invested roughly $13 billion.
OpenAI is in an “arms race” with heavyweights such as Google and Meta, seeking capital to maintain its lead in the competitive artificial intelligence space. Apple and OpenAI recently announced a partnership, and Nvidia is the biggest supplier of AI accelerators powering ChatGPT.
- OpenAI said the number of ChatGPT users has doubledin the last year, to more than 200 million weekly active users.
- More than 90% of Fortune 500 companies are now using OpenAI products, the company added.
Apple is in active discussions to take part in a multibillion dollar fundraising round into ChatGPT-maker OpenAI. The move would cement the ties between the two companies, but could also complicate Apple’s plans to more broadly partner with other AI companies.
This comes two months after Apple’s announced a partnership with OpenAI. At its June developer conference, Apple said that ChatGPT would be integrated into Apple Intelligence, its new system for infusing generative AI features throughout the iPhone. Apple said it’s looking to partner with other AI companies after starting out with ChatGPT.
Apple started with ChatGPT because “we wanted to start with the best,” said software chief Craig Federighi at the June conference.
The move is unusual one for Apple, which typically doesn’t invest in startups, but it’s not without precedent: In 2017, Apple invested $1 billion into SoftBank’s Vision Fund; and in 2016, it invested $1 billion into Chinese ride-hailing startup Didi Chuxing.
Nvidia, meanwhile, supplies the critical infrastructure needed to develop and run AI tools like ChatGPT. It’s the biggest maker of so-called AI accelerators, sales of which have soared in the past two years.
