(Boursier.com) — Microsoft would be in talks to invest 10 billion dollars in OpenAI, understands the information site Semafor. People familiar with the matter told Semafor that the funding would value OpenAI at $29 billion, including the new investment, and would also include other venture capital firms. The sources add that Microsoft’s investment would be part of a deal that would see the company get 75% of OpenAI’s earnings until it recoups its investment, after which it would revert to a structure in which Microsoft would own a stake. 49% stake in OpenAI, with other investors taking an additional 49% and OpenAI’s nonprofit parent company owning 2%.
OpenAI, a Californian artificial intelligence firm launched in 2015 and which counts Elon Musk among its founders, has had tremendous success with its impressive ChatGPT chatbot.
Microsoft is also working on a version of the Bing search engine that would use AI to answer search queries rather than just display a list of links, The Information reported last week. People with direct knowledge of the plans say Microsoft is working on integrating OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot into the Bing search engine with a launch that could take place before the end of March as the company seeks to outsmart Google!
Microsoft could thus “soon make a profit from its billion-dollar investment in OpenAI, creator of the ChatGPT chatbot, which gives human textual answers to questions”, believes The Information. Microsoft hopes the new feature, which could launch before the end of March, will help it overtake Google, its dominant search rival in this segment.
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