Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is considering the company’s largest-ever investment in a startup, Bloomberg reports.
The goal of this idea is for Microsoft to gain an edge over Google in the race to embed advanced artificial intelligence tools in areas such as search and apps.
According to sources, it is discussing the possibility of investing up to $10 billion in OpenAI, creator of the artificial intelligence viral bot ChatGPT. The proposal under consideration calls for Microsoft to put up the money over several years, but the final terms could change.
According to a Semafor report, the deal Microsoft is discussing would give the company a 75% share of OpenAI’s profits until it recoups the money from its investment, after which it would acquire a 49% stake in OpenAI. Semafor said it is not known whether the deal has been finalized, but said documents sent to potential investors in recent weeks outlining its terms point to a target completion by the end of 2022.
Microsoft’s GitHub, too, uses OpenAI’s linguistic artificial intelligence to help software developers with a program called GitHub Copilot. Copilot offers code snippets that can then appear in the program, much like an autocomplete bot trained to speak Python or JavaScript. It’s very useful for the programming equivalent of manual labor – filling in pieces of code that are necessary but not particularly complex or creative.
Microsoft executives said the company plans to develop the Copilot technology for use in similar programs for other job categories, such as office work, video game design, architecture and computer security.