Apple and Nvidia are reportedly in talks to join OpenAI's latest funding round, which could push the artificial intelligence (AI) company's valuation past $100 billion.
According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal on August 29, both Apple and Nvidia are considering making investments in OpenAI.
Thrive Capital is expected to lead the funding round with a $1 billion investment. Microsoft, which already owns 49% of OpenAI after investing $13 billion since 2019, is also set to participate. The exact amounts that Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft will invest remain undisclosed.
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Historically, Apple has focused on developing AI internally rather than investing in the sector. However, the increasing competition in AI may be prompting the company to change its approach.
In June, Apple partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the iOS 18 update. The company also hinted at incorporating Google's Gemini generative AI model into Apple devices.
While Apple typically avoids startup investments, it has made strategic investments in the past to secure important technologies for its products. For example, in 2016, Apple invested $1 billion in the Chinese ride-hailing company DiDi Chuxing and a similar amount in SoftBank's Vision Fund to gain access to emerging technologies.
If Apple goes ahead with the OpenAI investment, it would highlight the company's growing emphasis on AI as a crucial part of its future strategy.
In other news, OpenAI's GPT-4o model has been evaluated as posing "medium risk" in its potential to influence political opinions through generated text.
