According to a Semafor report on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter, Microsoft is in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the owner of the popular ChatGPT chatbot.
According to Semafor, Microsoft is in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup behind the ChatGPT chatbot.
The investment would be worth $29 billion to OpenAI. It is now worth around $20 billion.
In 2019, Microsoft already invested $1 billion in OpenAI.
According to Liz Hoffman and Reed Albergotti of Semafor, the investment would value OpenAI at around $29 billion. It is now worth around $20 billion.
The deal was supposed to close by the end of 2022, but it’s unclear whether it’s been finalized yet, according to Semafor, citing documents sent to prospective investors.
According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is in talks to sell existing shares in a tender offer that would value the company at $29 billion. According to the Journal, venture capital firms such as Thrive Capital and Founders Funds were in talks to invest at least $300 million in share sales.
According to the media outlet, as part of the current deal, Microsoft is proposing to receive 75% of OpenAI’s profits until it recovers its investment, after which Microsoft hopes to acquire a 49% stake in the company. Other investors are expected to own 49% of the company, with OpenAI’s nonprofit parent holding the remaining stake, according to Semafor.
Microsoft told Insider that it “does not comment on rumors.” Insider’s request for comment sent after regular business hours was not immediately responded to by OpenAI.
This is not the first time Microsoft has considered investing in OpenAI. In 2019, the tech titan has already invested $1 billion in OpenAI. According to The Information, Microsoft is looking to increase its investment in the startup.
In 2015, Y Combinator alum Sam Altman, Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter CEO Elon Musk, and others cofounded OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research lab.
January 4, 2023—Sam Altman (@sama)
It has recently made waves with ChatGPT, a platform launched in November because it can generate written human-like text. ChatGPT has been extremely popular. According to The New York Times, Google’s management has issued a “code red” warning about the potential competitor.
Insider reporter Beatrice Nolan tried the platform out and asked ChatGPT to help her write cover letters for jobs — and recruiters said they looked good enough to follow up on.
