Today’s Cache | Apple, Nvidia set to join OpenAI funding; Nvidia’s forecast dampens AI enthusiasm; Character.AI lays off 5% of staff | Photo credit: REUTERS
(This article is part of Today’s Cache, The Hindu’s newsletter on emerging issues at the intersection of technology, innovation and policy. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.)
Apple and Nvidia expected to join OpenAI funding
Apple and Nvidia in talks to invest in OpenAI in new fundraising round This would value the creator of ChatGPT at more than $100 billion, according to media reports on Thursday. The news comes a day after the Wall Street Journal According to venture capital firm Thrive Capital, which is reportedly investing about $1 billion in OpenAI, OpenAI has become increasingly important to Apple’s AI strategy. The iPhone maker rolled out the AI company’s chatbot, ChatGPT, to Apple devices in June as part of “Apple Intelligence.”
Apple has also reportedly been given an observer role on OpenAI’s board of directors. Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest strategic investor with over $10 billion invested, is also expected to participate in the funding round. The exact amounts of Apple and Microsoft’s investments remain unknown. OpenAI’s high valuation is a result of the AI arms race it sparked with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
Nvidia’s forecast dampens enthusiasm for AI
Nvidia dragged tech heavyweights lower after chipmaker’s earnings disappointed investors who hoped they would fuel further gains Wall Street Shares of most of the world’s most valuable companies fell in Asia on Thursday. Nasdaq futures initially fell about 1% after Nvidia reported quarterly results late Wednesday, suggesting traders had expected tech stocks to lose ground.
Nvidia fell nearly 7% and lost $200 billion in stock value after forecasting third-quarter gross margins that could miss market estimates and revenue that was largely in line. A handful of other AI-related companies shed about $100 billion in combined value. Shares of Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices each fell about 2%. Microsoft and Amazon each fell nearly 1%. TSMC, Nvidia’s chip contract maker, slid 2%, and declines in other tech names weighed on stocks in Tokyo and Seoul, sending Korea’s KOSPI to a two-week low.
Character.AI lays off 5% of its staff
Chatbot startup Character.AI has laid off at least 5% of its staff, The information According to a Character.AI spokesperson, the laid-off employees worked primarily in marketing and recruiting for the startup. “We are refocusing the company to ensure all roles align with our new direction of creating personalized AI (artificial intelligence) products,” the newspaper said Thursday. Reuters. “As a result, we have implemented a small reduction in our workforce,” the spokesman said, without giving the number of employees laid off.
Earlier this month, Character.AI signed a deal with Google subsidiary Alphabet Inc. that gives the search engine giant a non-exclusive license to the chatbot maker’s large-scale language model technology. Character.AI will get more funding as part of the Google deal, the startup said in a blog post, without disclosing the amount.
