Source: The Washington Post
Microsoft, which has invested billions into OpenAI, received a nonvoting seat on the company’s board after a dramatic boardroom shake-up last year led to CEO Sam Altman being fired and then reinstated days later. Apple was slated to take an advisory board role as well after striking a deal to integrate ChatGPT into its products last month, Bloomberg News previously reported, but any such plan will not go ahead. OpenAI confirmed its board will not include any advisory seats going forward.
The rise of OpenAI and other AI start-ups such as Anthropic, spurred by interest in ChatGPT and other chatbots, shook up the tech industry last year. Analysts and tech leaders have suggested that the newcomers could usurp some of the power of dominant players such as Microsoft.
But OpenAI and other leading AI start-ups have become dependent on investment from the largest tech companies because of the immense costs of developing cutting-edge AI. Algorithms behind systems like ChatGPT are trained using expensive and power-hungry computer hardware.
In January, the Federal Trade Commission said it would look into whether the investments and partnerships between AI companies and Big Tech are stifling true competition. “Our study will shed light on whether investments and partnerships pursued by dominant companies risk distorting innovation and undermining fair competition,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement at the time.
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