There has been a lot of news around Microsoft integrating OpenAI components into its services, including ChatGPT into Bing and GPT AI into Office apps. While this is not out of the blue considering Microsoft is a $1 billion investor and long time partner of OpenAI, there has been more activity than usual. It seems that this stems from Microsoft’s growing interest to be part of a $10 billion investment in the group.
Back in October I reported on OpenAI opening a new round of funding and seeking for Microsoft to be a part of it. While investment firms have also put money into the organization, Microsoft is the biggest tech benefactor of OpenAI and actively helps in research and development of its AI.
According to Semafor, Microsoft has issued documents to work with venture firms on a $10 billion funding of OpenAI. Those documents suggest the company was looking to complete the process by the end of 2022, so it may already be done.
Either way, the company was seeking very specific terms before investing so much money into the group. Among them is Microsoft taking 75% of all OpenAI profits until the investment is paid back. Furthermore, Microsoft would own 49% of the group, with investors owning another 49%. That would leave the open-source OpenAI Inc with just 2%.
Deeper Integration
In recent weeks, Microsoft has been working closely with OpenAI, including an integration with ChatGPT into Bing. Microsoft’s development is advanced enough that a launch of ChatGPT Bing could land before the close of March. Either way, the move will seek to provide a truly alternative search experience to Google.
As I reported this week, Microsoft is also working on bringing elements of GPT AI into Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. Specifically, Microsoft wants to fold the AI into its autocomplete software on those Office applications. The company has already been testing the integration by using OpenAI GPT to boost Outlook search results.
Tip of the day: File History is a Windows back up feature that saves each version of files in the Documents, Pictures, Videos, Desktop, and Offline OneDrive folders. Though its name implies a primary focus on version control, you can actually use it as a fully-fledged backup tool for your important documents.
Last Updated on February 23, 2023 1:46 pm CET
