“Apple in Discussion of Investment in OpenAI”… Focus on Strengthening AI Capabilities

[뉴욕=뉴스핌] Correspondent Kim Min-jeong = The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 29th (local time) that Apple is considering investing in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

Apple has been aggressively strengthening its AI capabilities this year, including partnering with OpenAI for its own artificial intelligence (AI) function, Apple Intelligence.

Sources told WSJ that Apple’s investment is part of a funding round being pursued by OpenAI. OpenAI expects the round, led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital, to be valued at more than $100 billion. In addition to Apple, Microsoft (MS), which previously invested in OpenAI, is also expected to participate in the round.

The WSJ reported that it could not find out how much Apple and MS will invest this time. To date, MS has been a major strategic partner of Apple, investing $13 billion since 2019 to acquire a 49% stake.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attended the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on June 10 (local time).[사진=로이터 뉴스핌] 2024.06.11 mj72284@newspim.com

Last June, Apple announced that it had selected OpenAI as its first official partner for Apple Intelligence. New AI features include an improved Siri voice assistant and the creation of personal emojis. The new AI tasks Apple announced are powered by Apple’s own AI technology, but OpenAI’s ChatGPT is used for more complex tasks, such as writing messages.

Until the beginning of the year, Apple was considered to be behind in the AI ​​sector. Since then, Apple has been accelerating its AI efforts by unveiling Apple Intelligence at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Apple has reportedly folded its autonomous driving business to strengthen its AI capabilities and recently laid off 100 people in the digital services sector.

The WSJ explained that this investment review is unusual for Apple, which rarely invests in startups. For years, Apple has invested in manufacturing partners to secure a supply of components that go into its products.

In 2017, Apple announced a $1 billion investment in Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund. At the time, an Apple spokesperson said the investment was expected to accelerate the development of technologies that were strategically important to Apple. In 2016, Apple invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing.

Apple will hold a new product event on the 9th of next month and unveil new products. The industry predicts that Apple will unveil the iPhone 16 and a new Apple Watch at the event next month.

mj72284@newspim.com