Abu Dhabi-backed firm in talks to invest in OpenAI chip venture, FT reports

[March 15, 2024]  (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's state-backed investment firm MGX is in early stage discussions to invest in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI's chip venture, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing two sources.  

OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken, March 11, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

MGX, a technology investment company with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and artificial intelligence firm G42 as founding partners, was only launched earlier this week.

MGX and OpenAI did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

The report follows an earlier FT story that said Singapore's Temasek Holdings was in talks to invest in OpenAI.

The UAE’s AI minister Omar Sultan Al Olama told the FT that he also sees xAI owner Elon Musk doing something AI-related in the country.

"I don’t think it's far out for him (Musk) to do something here,” Olama told the FT.

AI startups attracted one out of every three dollars invested last year in the United States, and OpenAI's ChatGPT grabbed the spotlight as startups raced to develop AI technology.

The launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022 brought attention to generative AI technologies, spurring billions in investments on chips and servers required to support the adoption of such applications.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)

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