Wen | Zhou Yu
Editor|Tang Yongyi Shane
Entering OpenAI in late September, it is really lively. Just released DALL· E 3 and multimodal ChatGPT, OpenAI has been revealed to be entering AI hardware devices.
According to The Information, two people familiar with the matter revealed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been in contact with Jony Ive, a prominent iPhone designer, to discuss developing a new AI hardware device.
One of them also said that SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son had spoken to the two about the idea, but it was unclear whether he would be involved in the future.
In 2019, Jony Ive, then Apple's chief design officer, suddenly announced his departure to establish his own design brand LoveFrom. During his 28 years at Apple, Ive was the head of hardware product design for several classic series products such as iPod, iPhone, iPad, and iMac.
Jony lve, source: CNBC
After establishing itself, Ive's studio designed products such as the 50th anniversary vinyl record player of British audio brand LINN and the "Astra Carta" logo for King Charles III.
None of OpenAI, SoftBank or Ive have disclosed information, and it's unclear what the device will be or whether it will be made by OpenAI or another company.
But there's no doubt that if the partnership goes through, it will be a high-profile alliance of the world's most famous designers and CEOs of the most talked-about tech companies, as well as a fresh try.
OpenAI, valued at $90 billion, is eager for a hardware onlet
While discussing the development of AI hardware, OpenAI once again shocked many with its valuation of tripling in 7 months.
According to the Wall Street Journal on September 26, OpenAI is discussing stock sales with investors, and its valuation has reached between $80 billion and $90 billion. If this valuation is confirmed, OpenAI will become the third most valued startup in the world after SpaceX and ByteDance.
Back seven months ago, when it accepted Microsoft's $10 billion investment, OpenAI was valued at just $29 billion. Microsoft also leveraged the investment and now owns 49% of OpenAI.
In addition, OpenAI also revealed to investors that the company's revenue will reach $1 billion in 2023 and billions of dollars in 2024.
Source: IC photo
However, the current layout of OpenAI is mainly in terms of large models, and there is no related work on hardware development. But Altman is clearly still blushing at AI hardware and isn't going to sit still.
Altman invested early in Humane, a consumer AI hardware startup. In 2020, Altman co-led the company's $30 million Series A financing, and then participated in a total of $200 million in Series B and Series C funding in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Arguably, Altman is currently one of Humane's biggest investors. The company also said: "It plans to integrate its technology into Humane devices through a partnership with OpenAI." ”
Humane also has a deep Apple background. Humane's two co-founders, Imran Chaudhri, and software engineer Bethany Bongiorno, both worked at Apple. Currently, Humane is planning to develop a screenless wearable device that can use voice prompts or gestures to guide while projecting information onto the surface in front of it. At the end of June this year, Humane officially announced its first device product, the Humane Ai Pin.
Source: Humane
OpenAI has been an early leader in AI, but competition is intensifying as more and more tech companies move in.
Microsoft, which once spent its honeymoon together, also seems to have a disagreement with OpenAI. In mid-July, when Microsoft appeared as a partner at the Meta large model Llama2 launch event, many people were shocked. Microsoft also has excellent AI application scenarios such as Office Family Bucket.
In addition to the threat of open-source large model Llama2 to OpenAI, Meta has also been deployed on hardware devices. Since September 2020, Meta has successively released versions 1, 2 and Pro of the VR headset Quest. Quest2 and Quest Pro, powered by AI, also support infrared sensors to track the user's hands, voice input from the user, and take screenshots with voice commands, change room-scale boundaries, or check battery level.
Meta Connect 2023 will be held on September 27-28, US time. At that time, Meta will also release a new generation of VR headset Meta Quest 3, and its AI performance is also expected.
Source: Meta
Launching a counteroffensive on AI, Son has his sights set on OpenAI
Another major attraction of this report is Son.
In 2017, Son announced the establishment of the Vision Fund, which focuses on global technology investment, with phases I and II reaching US$100 billion. In a statement at the time, Son said the SoftBank Vision Fund "will invest in companies that can lay the foundation for the next generation of information revolution."
However, the performance of the Vision Fund in recent years is still far from Son's expectations, and it is not satisfactory. According to statistics, in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the fund's losses were as high as US$16 billion and US$32 billion, respectively. In terms of cutting-edge technology, SoftBank has also been almost involved in investing in generative AI startups in the past year.
Just this month, chip company ARM was officially listed on the Nasdaq exchange, a long-lost IPO spree, and finally let SoftBank return some blood. The 66-year-old Son also stood in the spotlight again, announcing that SoftBank would shift from "defensive mode" to "offensive mode" to catch up with the AI boom that swept Silicon Valley in the past year.
Source: IC photo
OpenAI, on the other hand, is the "piece of fat" that Son has been eyeing for a long time.
On September 16, local time, according to the British media Financial Times, after the listing of ARM, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son hopes to continue to invest tens of billions of dollars in the field of AI, and OpenAI is one of the potential investment objects. At the time, both OpenAI and SoftBank declined to comment.
Son also called himself a "heavy user" of ChatGPT and chatted with him almost daily, claiming to be close to Sam Altman and describing Altman as "one of the key people on the planet."
After the news of OpenAI's entry into hardware broke, a netizen on the Internet who claimed to work for SoftBank also ran out and shouted: Son Masayoshi shows off how ironclad his relationship with Ultraman is every day, and he has to talk on the phone every week.
Source: Weibo
The report also said that the competitor who invested in OpenAI is also under consideration by Son, in order to deepen the deep layout of the AI field, Son also plans to acquire the British chip company Graphcore, but Graphcore directly denied the news.
But regardless of who the specific investment target is, SoftBank's investment in AI has become eager to try, and Son seems to be regaining enthusiasm for investment.
In June, Son declared loudly: "It's time to shift gears, the singularity of the AI revolution is coming." In the next 10 years, artificial intelligence will change the world, and SoftBank has prepared sufficient ammunition to become a leader in the field of artificial intelligence. ”
He also said at the time that he now has 5 trillion yen (about 254.7 billion yuan) in cash on his books and is ready to enter "offensive mode."
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