That rumored Microsoft investment in OpenAI has come. The company is extending its long-term partnership with OpenAI through a new “multiyear, multi-billion dollar investment.” That figure had been rumored to be ten billion dollars. Microsoft has also purchased an exclusive license to the underlying technology behind GPT-3 in 2020 after investing $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019.
Meanwhile, the New York Times is reporting conversations within Google in response to ChatGPT, sounding the alarm within the organization. The talks are important enough that founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have offered advice and input to the organization.
Why do we care?
I’ve said for a while that I believe AI is a feature, not a product. I think that remains the case. The reason to care is that most organizations that will be using that feature are not ready for the impact of the technology. That’s the opportunity right now and will position solution providers effectively for the future. The need is to discuss not just how the tools will be used but negative outcomes of their misuse. Early planning now will build relationships with customers for the future and position them as forward-thinking. There’s still time, and frankly, no better time.