AI is big business. It's used for applications far beyond writing and text generation, and that alone tempers the argument that it's just a garden variety threat.
The fact that it's an innovation with applications by and for human pursuits also reminds us that we still have some control over AI and its components, including the starting point. ChatGPT and its analog are nothing without us programming it, refining it, and (most crucially) starting the conversation. So it's good to see which entities are interested in investing in it, applying it, and keeping it going. Here are five from the last week.
"ChatGPT Creator is Talking to Investors About Selling Shares at $29-billion Valuation," Berber Jin and Miles Kruppa for the Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2023
Since most of us are not part of the world of Silicon Valley's venture capital scene, our imaginations run wild when we think about deals being brokered for massive sums of money in very short periods of time. This piece gives a glimpse of the potential valuation of OpenAI now, as well as in the past few years. (Note that no contracts have been signed yet.)
"Microsoft to invest $10-billion in creator of buzzy AI tool ChatGPT," Ryan Browne for CNBC, January 9, 2023
Wondering who these investors are? Microsoft has an interest and a lot of money to put behind it. When we talk about AI text generators, the applications go well beyond writing essays and reports. Microsoft sees its potential as a tool worth integrating into Bing, the search engine people sometimes forget about.
"Why Google Isn't Rushing Forward With AI Chatbots," Mark DeGeurin for Gizmodo, December 14, 2022
Google-- the company you may know for becoming a ubiquitous verb-- has a pretty strong interest in AI. (The company did call for a "code red" upon the popularity of ChatGPT soon after its release-- and a week after this article was written.) Much of this is because the bulk of Google's revenue comes from monetizing its searches. However, Google has its own AI model, LaMDA, but is trying to bide its time, it seems, and learn from the past mistakes of other chatbots that have gone beyond rogue.
"ChatGPT and Generative AI look like tech's next boom. They could be the next bubble," Hasan Chowdhury for Business Insider, January 12, 2023
This commentary notes some of the signs that this could be infatuation more than anything really worth following long-term. If you're like me you have seen a succession of booms and busts in technology (and other sectors like real estate.) The section titled "How generative AI generates revenue is unclear" sort of sums this leeriness up.
"Finding a Business Case for Generative AI," David Linthicum for eWeek, January 10, 2023
This commentary reflects on the parallels between the emergence of generative AI models and cloud computing. It has a few useful links to explainers as well. All these business articles throw numbers around casually, but this one had a projection I found intriguing: one tech solutions company "predicts that it will account for 10% of all data produced by 2025." It'll be interesting to look at this prediction in hindsight.
Comments