Apple has left the negotiating table regarding an investment in OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, according to the Wall Street Journal. The artificial intelligence company’s new fundraising is expected to be worth $6.5 billion.
Two other tech giants, Microsoft and Nvidia, are still in talks to participate in this round. Microsoft is expected to invest around $1 billion, on top of the $13 billion already invested in OpenAI. Microsoft holds a 49% share of OpenAI’s profits.
The first information regarding Apple’s investment emerged at the end of August. It was not clear how much the iPhone maker was willing to invest.
Apple’s desire to invest in OpenAI underlined its desire to maintain access to AI. OpenAI faces intense competition from other AI startups and large tech companies, but ChatGPT remains a market leader.
At the same time, investing in OpenAI could complicate Apple’s efforts to be a neutral partner with other AI companies. Indeed, the manufacturer has already indicated that it wants to offer other AI alongside Apple Intelligence. ChatGPT would therefore not be the only chatbot. Google’s Gemini should arrive in a few months.
As a reminder, OpenAI and Apple have partnered to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence on iOS 18. This will be available before the end of the year.
