OpenAI could soon see a significant investment from Apple.

The maker of the hugely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT is about to undergo a new fundraising round. The Wall Street Journal reports it could be valued at more than $100 billion afterward – up from $80 billion at the beginning of this year.

Other potential investors include Apple competitor Microsoft, investment firm Thrive Capital and computer chip giant Nvidia.

It is not yet clear how much the businesses will invest. However, Microsoft has been a leading funder for OpenAI since 2019, with its investments totaling $13 billion and Microsoft enjoying a 49 percent share of its profits.

What could an Apple and OpenAI partnership mean?

This investment from Apple is not entirely surprising as the company revealed back in June that it would be partnering with OpenAI for its new Apple Intelligence feature. It will see ChatGPT integrated into Siri, allowing it to handle multiple and more complex tasks on new models of iPhones.

At the time, the news garnered great attention when Elon Musk threatened to ban Apple products if the AI features went ahead.

“If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies,” he posted on X, citing security violations.

No money was reportedly exchanged over this initial Apple Intelligence project, however. The fact that Apple is choosing to invest in the firm demonstrates the company’s increasing desire to cement its place in the burgeoning consumer AI sector, which has grown exponentially since ChatGPT launched in November 2022.

Apple has previously expressed a desire to work with other AI companies. Meta, Anthropic and Google’s Gemini have all been mentioned as possibilities before.

It is rare for Apple to invest in tech startups. The company usually only invests in manufacturers.

ReadWrite has contacted OpenAI for comment.

Featured image credit: Apple

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