Apple, Nvidia In Talks To Join OpenAI Funding Round – Report

Two big names in the tech industry are seeking to join a funding round in the AI pioneer, OpenAI.

The New York Times reported that both Apple and Nvidia are in talks to invest in OpenAI as part of a new fundraising round led by the investment firm Thrive Capital, that could value the ChatGPT maker above $100 billion.

OpenAI is not a publicly listed entity, but a $100 billion valuation would be a $20 billion increase from OpenAI’s valuation as of February 2024.

Funding round

According to the media report, Thrive Capital, which is leading the funding round, will be investing around $1 billion in OpenAI.

The exact investment amounts from Apple and Nvidia have not been disclosed, but Microsoft will also reportedly be making another investment in OpenAI.

Microsoft of course is already one of the largest financial backers of OpenAI, and is thought to have invested up to $13 billion in the AI firm, with Redmond last pumping billions of dollars into OpenAI in January 2023.

OpenAI also heavily depends on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure for its costly computing infrastructure.

But it makes certain amount of sense for both Apple and Nvidia to explore possible funding options for OpenAI.

Apple at its annual WWDC developer conference in June had announced that it would bring OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot to its devices including iPads, iPhones, Vision Pro headsets and Macs later this year with its long-awaited “Apple Intelligence” service.

Nvidia meanwhile currently controls about 80 percent of the AI chip market.

Observer seats

Microsoft had occupied an observer role on OpenAI’s board during most of 2024, and as a result of Apple’s June announcement, it was expected that Apple fellow Phil Schiller would also be given an observer role on OpenAI’s board.

Microsoft had occupied an observer position on OpenAI’s board ever since Microsoft made clear its displeasure with the previous not-for-profit board, which in November 2023 had unexpectedly fired CEO Sam Altman (who was rehired days later).

However Microsoft in July gave up its seat as an observer on the board at OpenAI, while Apple at the same time also did not take up a similar position on the board.

Instead OpenAI said it would host regular meetings with partners such as Microsoft and Apple and investors Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures – as part of “a new approach to informing and engaging key strategic partners” under Sarah Friar, the former Nextdoor boss who was recently hired as OpenAI’s first chief financial officer.

The Microsoft retreat from governance oversight of OpenAI’s board of directors came after antitrust authorities in both the EU and US examined the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, amid broader concerns about competition in the rapidly growing AI sector.