Microsoft intends to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the company behind the well-known ChatGPT AI platform, valuing it at close to $29 billion.
News portal Semafor claimed, citing persons familiar with the matter, that it is still unclear if the deal has been signed but “documents sent to prospective investors in recent weeks outlining its terms indicated a targeted close by the end of 2022”.
Microsoft’s $10 billion investment will entitle it to 75% of OpenAI profits “until it recoups its investment,” according to the report.
“After that threshold is reached, it would revert to a structure that reflects ownership of OpenAI, with Microsoft having a 49 per cent stake, other investors taking another 49 per cent and OpenAI’s nonprofit parent getting 2 per cent,” the report claimed
Microsoft and OpenAI have not responded to the report. In 2019, the tech giant invested $1 billion in OpenAI.
AI-driven ChatGPT gives human-like answers to questions and has become very popular on social media, with people asking it to write poems to essays.
Microsoft is currently promoting ChatGPT applications for tackling real-world challenges.
The tech giant is also reported to be bringing OpenAI writing tech to Office, giving users a means to produce text for projects by mixing AI technology into its apps.
The Information reported that the company plans to integrate OpenAI’s AI into Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and other applications.
