On Monday, Microsoft announced its multi-billion investment in OpenAI, the research lab which recently created ChatGPT, a much-talked-about artificial intelligence chatbot that has raised concerns about enabling cheating in universities and schools.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted a company blog in which the tech giant made the announcement of making a “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment to accelerate AI breakthroughs” which would be “broadly shared with the world”.
ChatGPT, the chatbot of OpenAI, became a sensation on the internet after it was released in November without any warning, allowing users to experiment with the abilities of the chatbot in writing articles, poems, essays and computer code in a few seconds.
The ability of ChatGPT alarmed the teachers as it was banned in schools and universities and also started debates over its impact on office work in the near future.
OpenAI, the California-based research lab, also created DALL-E which is a programme that can draw illustrations and digital images swiftly.
Microsoft made the announcement of the deal less than a week after it declared that 10,000 employees will be laid off in the weeks ahead and investment will be redirected to new priorities like AI.
The statement released by Microsoft said that OpenAI’s models will be deployed by the company “across our consumer and enterprise products”.
The announcement indicates the intention of Microsoft to include technology used in DALL-E and ChatGPT into its software products like the search engine Bing and Office apps of the company.
“With ChatGPT being one of the most innovative AI technologies seen in the industry, Microsoft is clearly being aggressive on this front and not going to be left behind on what could be a potential game changing AI investment,” said analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, in a note.