Apple And Nvidia In Talks To Invest In OpenAI

Apple and Nvidia are reportedly in discussions to invest in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, as part of a major new funding round. This round could see OpenAI valued at over $100 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. The investment would further solidify the tech giants' ties to one of the leading players in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm, is said to be leading this multibillion-dollar funding round, with Microsoft also expected to participate. Microsoft has been the primary investor in OpenAI to date, holding a significant 49% share of the startup’s profits after having poured $13 billion into the company since 2019. It is unclear how much Apple, Nvidia, or Microsoft will commit in this latest round, but their involvement signals the increasing importance of AI to their broader business strategies.

Nvidia, a key supplier of AI chips, has long maintained a close working relationship with OpenAI. The company’s chips power ChatGPT and other advanced AI models, making Nvidia a crucial partner in OpenAI’s technology development. Meanwhile, Apple’s relationship with OpenAI has deepened in recent months.

In June, Apple announced that OpenAI would be the first official partner for its AI initiative, Apple Intelligence. This system, designed to integrate AI features across Apple’s devices and operating systems, will include enhancements to Siri, the voice assistant, as well as new AI-driven features like text proofreading and the creation of custom emojis. For simpler AI tasks, Apple will rely on its own technology, but more complex functions—such as generating written responses—will be handled by ChatGPT.  

Apple’s potential investment in OpenAI highlights the company’s need to ensure access to cutting-edge AI technology. Though other companies and startups are vying for dominance in the AI space, ChatGPT remains a market leader. Apple has made it clear that it intends to work with the best in the field, with Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software, confirming at a recent developers conference that they chose to launch their new AI system with ChatGPT for this reason.  

At the same event, Apple also mentioned other AI models, such as Google’s Gemini, as potential partners. The company has reportedly been in talks with Meta and AI startups like Anthropic and Perplexity, exploring further collaborations. However, an investment in OpenAI could complicate these relationships, given that Apple has traditionally avoided favouring one AI company over others.

This move would be somewhat uncharacteristic for Apple, which has generally steered clear of direct investments in startups. Over the years, Apple has made a few exceptions, particularly in its manufacturing partners to secure supplies for its devices. For instance, in 2017, the company invested $1 billion into Japan’s SoftBank Vision Fund, which was aimed at speeding up the development of technologies that Apple saw as strategically important. A year earlier, Apple also made a $1 billion investment in Chinese ride-hailing firm DiDi Chuxing, during a time when competition in the automotive space was heating up. That venture coincided with Apple’s early, and ultimately cancelled, efforts to develop its own electric vehicle.  

However, in the past year, Apple has ramped up its internal AI investments. The company is focusing heavily on building up its own AI capabilities, something that has become increasingly important in light of growing competition in the field. Apple is set to hold a major event next month where it is expected to unveil its next generation of iPhones, which will feature new AI tools as one of the standout features.

Nvidia, too, has been stepping up its investments in AI-related companies. Over the last two years, the chipmaker has put money into some of the most prominent AI startups, including Inflection AI and Databricks. It has also backed smaller companies working in fields such as AI-driven drug discovery and robotics. Nvidia’s close ties with OpenAI are well established; the AI startup is one of the largest users of Nvidia’s chips, using tens of thousands of them to train its advanced models. Earlier reports from *Bloomberg* indicated that Nvidia had been in discussions to invest in OpenAI.

Both Apple and Nvidia’s interest in investing in OpenAI underscores the growing importance of AI technology to the future of their respective businesses. For Apple, AI is set to be central to the next wave of innovation in its devices and operating systems. For Nvidia, AI represents a crucial market for its high-performance chips, with OpenAI standing as one of its biggest customers.

As the race to dominate the AI space intensifies, the involvement of major players like Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft in OpenAI’s growth will be closely watched. Whether these companies can maintain partnerships with other AI firms while aligning themselves with OpenAI remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the competition in AI is only heating up.