According to people familiar with the issue, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) is in talks to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the firm that owns ChatGPT, valued at $29 billion.
Other venture firms have also contributed, and deal documents have been distributed to possible investors in recent weeks, with the objective of closing the round by the end of 2022, according to the story.
OpenAI did not react immediately to Reuters’ request for comment, and Microsoft declined.
This follows a Wall Street Journal report that OpenAI was in talks with venture capital firms such as Thrive Capital and Founders Fund to sell its current stock for an estimated $29 billion valuation.
On Nov. 30, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. (TSLA.O), and investor Sam Altman created OpenAI, which made the ChatGPT chatbot available for free public testing. A chatbot is a piece of software designed to mimic human-like conversation in response to user input.
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According to the Semafor report, the funding terms indicated that Microsoft would receive 75% of OpenAI’s earnings until OpenAI had repaid its initial investment from ChatGPT and other firms such as the picture production tool Dall-E.
The story indicated that after that milestone was reached, Microsoft would hold 49% of OpenAI, along with another 49% from other investors and 2% from OpenAI’s nonprofit parent, without detailing the stakes until Microsoft paid its money back.
The Information reported this week that Microsoft, which invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019, intended to use the ChatGPT AI to construct a version of its search engine Bing.
