Nvidia Discusses Joining OpenAI's Latest Funding Round

Nvidia Discusses Joining OpenAI's Latest Funding Round

In Nvidia's latest quarterly report, released Wednesday, revenue more than doubled to $30 billion.

Nvidia Corp., the world's largest chip maker, is discussing joining OpenAI's funding round that would value the artificial intelligence startup at more than $100 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. were also in talks to participate in the funding, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are confidential. The round will be led by Thrive Capital, which is investing about $1 billion, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. Nvidia has discussed investing about $100 million, two of the people said.

If the talks move forward, it would mean three of the most valuable tech companies are backing OpenAI, the creator of the groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT. Microsoft was already OpenAI’s largest backer, investing about $13 billion.

Representatives for Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, OpenAI and Thrive declined to comment.

Big Tech’s influence on artificial intelligence is coming under increasing scrutiny as regulators in both the EU and the US raise concerns about Nvidia’s dominance of AI chips and Microsoft’s close relationship with OpenAI. Microsoft has tightly integrated OpenAI’s services into its Windows and Copilot AI platforms — betting that these capabilities will drive growth.

Apple also has existing ties to OpenAI. The iPhone maker is adding ChatGPT to its new AI suite called Apple Intelligence. The company was also set to take an observer seat on OpenAI’s board of directors — along with Microsoft — but those plans were scrapped in July.

Nvidia, meanwhile, supplies the critical infrastructure needed to develop and run AI tools like ChatGPT. It is the largest maker of so-called AI accelerators, sales of which have skyrocketed in the past two years.

Nvidia's latest quarterly report, released Wednesday, showed revenue more than doubling to $30 billion. The company predicted even bigger sales for the current quarter, beating analysts' average estimates, though investors have become so accustomed to the headline-grabbing results that the stock still fell.

OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told employees in a memo Wednesday that the company is seeking fresh capital, without disclosing details, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has been in talks to raise funding at a valuation of $100 billion or more since at least December, Bloomberg reported.

The funding will strengthen one of the world’s most valuable venture-backed startups. ChatGPT’s runaway success has also kicked off an arms race among tech companies integrating AI technology into their products and funding other promising startups.

In a memo to employees, Fryar said OpenAI would use the funding to buy additional computing power and cover other operating expenses, the sources said.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported on negotiations with Apple.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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