Microsoft in Talks to Acquire OpenAI

Microsoft is reportedly in talks to acquire a 49% stake in OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, a popular artificial intelligence (AI) application used for answering questions, writing reports, and coding software. According to Semafor, Microsoft is willing to pay over $10 billion for the acquisition, which would include a peculiar agreement allowing the tech giant to receive 75% of OpenAI's income until its initial investment is recovered. The remaining 49% of the company would be owned by other investors, with the remaining 2% going to OpenAI's non-profit parent company.

OpenAI, which is currently raising funds at a valuation of $29 billion, is allowing employees and early investors to sell their shares at this valuation. The company, which originally debuted as a non-profit dedicated to bringing AI safely to the masses, became a hybrid "capped profit" firm in 2019, when Microsoft invested $1 billion in cash and cloud credits into the company. OpenAI hopes to generate $1 billion in revenue by 2024, making the partnership with Microsoft a strategic move, as Google has also been exploring the AI ecosystem and the demand for AI products is expected to rise.

ChatGPT to be Incorporated into Microsoft Office Software

In related news, The Information recently reported that Microsoft is considering incorporating ChatGPT into its office software, including Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. The AI technology is expected to improve the efficiency and productivity of the software by allowing users to complete tasks more quickly and accurately. Microsoft has reportedly been working on integrating OpenAI's language-understanding model, GPT, into Outlook to provide more useful search results for email customers. GPT has the ability to understand what emails a customer may be searching for, even if they do not use exact keywords in their search.