Apple in talks to join OpenAI funding round, sources say

Apple’s move would cement ties to a key partner integral to its efforts to gain ground in the artificial-intelligence race and would value the ChatGPT maker above $US100bn.

Open AI's CEO Sam Altman and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Apple is in talks to invest in OpenAI, a move that would cement ties to a partner integral to its efforts to gain ground in the artificial-intelligence race.

The investment would be part of a new OpenAI fundraising round that would value the ChatGPT maker above $US100 billion, people familiar with the situation said. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that venture-capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the round, which will total several billion dollars, and Apple rival Microsoft is also expected to participate.

It couldn’t be learned how much Apple or Microsoft will invest into OpenAI this round. To date, Microsoft has been the primary strategic investor into OpenAI. It owns a 49% share of the AI startup’s profits after investing $13 billion since 2019.

Apple in June announced OpenAI as the first official partner for Apple Intelligence, its system for infusing AI features throughout its operating system. The new AI will feature an improved Siri voice assistant, text proofreading and creating custom emojis.

Some of the new AI tasks Apple announced would be handled by Apple’s own AI technology. For more complicated AI tasks, such as generating a written message, Apple would use OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Apple’s talks to invest in OpenAI underscores its dedication to ensure it maintains access to this technology. OpenAI faces intense competition from other AI startups and big tech companies, but ChatGPT remains a market leader.

Apple hopes to join with other companies and incorporate their generative AI into the new system. It is launching with ChatGPT because “we wanted to start with the best,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software, at the June developers conference.

At the conference, Apple mentioned Google’s generative AI model, Gemini, as a potential partner. The company also has held partnership discussions with Meta as well as AI startups Anthropic and Perplexity, the Journal previously reported.

Investing in OpenAI could complicate Apple’s efforts to be a neutral partner with other AI companies.

The move would be an unusual one for Apple, which typically doesn’t invest in startups. Over the years, Apple has made a number of investments in manufacturing partners, in part to secure supply of components for its devices.

In 2017, Apple invested $1 billion into Japan’s SoftBank’s Vision Fund because it “will speed the development of technologies which may be strategically important to Apple,” an Apple spokeswoman said at the time.

In 2016, Apple also invested $1 billion into Chinese ride-hailing startup DiDi Chuxing. Apple didn’t explain its motivation for the deal, but there was an intensifying battle over the future of driving. Apple was in its early stages of trying to build its own electric vehicle, which it canceled earlier this year.

Apple has ramped up its internal AI investments over the past year and a half as it attempts to build up its own capabilities, The Journal recently reported.

Apple is holding an event next month where it will likely launch its next-generation iPhones. New AI tools are expected to be the standout feature of the devices.

WSJ