OpenAI has been at the centre of the current AI frenzy, and the company has recently shown a smart move in generating an income from the buzz that is has created. The company has reportedly managed to raise $175.25 million from 14 investors for a fund aimed at investing in startups. Initially, OpenAI was supported by a $10 billion investment from Microsoft. These funds are coming as cold, hard cash rather than computing power.
The plan is that investors, who are desperate to get in on the AI band wagon, can give their money to OpenAI to act on their behalf. It has also been suggested that a second VC fund is in the offing. However, the success of venture capital-backed start-ups launching their own venture capital arms is debatable.
OpenAI and its investors should learn from the examples of past ventures and proceed with caution. Sam Altman’s experiment with Worldcoin, which seeks to scan the eyes of citizens in exchange for payments, was condemned and branded as creepy.
OpenAI has been wise in not expanding too quickly with similarly risk ventures. The size of its latest investor bid – smaller than the initial target of $100 million – show that it is avoiding the temptation of raising huge funds from sources such as Saudi backers.
OpenAI was founded by Elon Musk, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and several other colleagues back in 2015. Since then, the company has made a name for itself with innovative research into natural language processing, generative design, robotics, and more. With its latest fundraising and its commitment to the development of useful AI, OpenAI is cementing its position as the leader in the field.
