NVIDIA, the world’s biggest chipmaker, has discussed joining a funding round for OpenAI that would value the artificial intelligence (AI) startup at more than US$100 billion, said people familiar with the matter.
They added that Nvidia has discussed investing about US$100 million.
Apple and Microsoft have also been in talks about participating in the financing, said the sources who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Bloomberg reported earlier this week that the round would be led by Thrive Capital, which is investing about US$1 billion.
If the discussions move forward, it would mean the three most valuable tech companies are all backing OpenAI, maker of the ChatGPT chatbot. Microsoft, already the startup’s biggest funder, has invested about US$13 billion.
Representatives for Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI and Thrive all declined to comment.
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Big Tech’s influence over AI has drawn more scrutiny from regulators in the European Union and the US. They have expressed concerns about Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips, and Microsoft’s close relationship with OpenAI.
Microsoft has integrated OpenAI’s services into its Windows and Copilot AI platforms, while Apple is adding ChatGPT to its new suite of AI features.
The iPhone maker, alongside Microsoft, was also slated to take a board observer seat at OpenAI. However, those plans were dropped in July.
Meanwhile, Nvidia supplies the key infrastructure needed to develop and run AI tools such as ChatGPT.
In the chipmaker’s latest quarterly report, revenue more than doubled to US$30 billion. It predicted even greater sales in the current quarter, beating the average analyst estimates.
Still, shares of Nvidia declined as investors have grown used to its blowout results.
The success of ChatGPT has also kicked off an arms race among tech companies, which are integrating AI technology across their products and funding other promising startups.
OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar said the company was seeking fresh capital without giving details, sources said.
The company has been in discussions to raise funding at a valuation at or above US$100 billion since at least December.
Friar noted that OpenAI would use the financing to acquire more computing power and fund other operating expenses. BLOOMBERG
