Apple and chipmaker Nvidia are reportedly among the investors interested in backing OpenAI’s upcoming funding round, which could value the artificial intelligence company at over $100 billion.
According to Aug. 29 reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, both companies are planning to invest in the AI startup.
Apple’s move would be unusual for the company, which typically does not invest in startups. The investment, however, would align with its strategy to keep up with the AI race amid growing competition from tech giants and emerging startups.
Investment firm Thrive Capital is leading the round with $1 billion in funding, as per the Journal. Microsoft is also participating in the round. The tech conglomerate already owns 49% of OpenAI after investing $13 billion since 2019. The exact amount to be invested by Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft remains uncertain.
OpenAI said on Aug. 29 that its flagship product, ChatGPT, has doubled its weekly active users from a year ago to more than 200 million. However, the company’s revenue is still behind some expectations, with annualized sales of roughly $3.4 billion as of May 2024.
Related: Nvidia Q2 revenue beats expectations in record-setting boost to AI sector
Apple embraces AI
A possible investment from Apple into OpenAI would disrupt the iPhone maker’s efforts to remain a neutral AI partner.
In addition to its internal investments in AI technology, Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI in June to embed AI features into its operating system. The company also hinted at integrating Google’s Gemini generative AI model into iOS and has had earlier discussions about incorporating Meta’s technology into its Apple Intelligence platform.
According to the Journal, Apple isn’t an active investor in startups but has made strategic movies over the previous years to secure the supply of key components for its devices. The company invested $1 billion into SoftBank’s Vision Fund to get exposure to emerging technologies “strategically important to Apple,” said an Apple spokesperson.
Apple also poured $1 billion into the Chinese startup DiDi Chuxing in 2016.
Magazine: AI may already use more power than Bitcoin — and it threatens Bitcoin mining