Microsoft Expands Partnership with OpenAI, Invests Billions More
2023-01-26
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1American technology company Microsoft has announced a new, multibillion-dollar investment in artificial intelligence (AI) developer OpenAI.
2The deal marks the latest deepening of ties between the two companies.
3Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019, when it put $1 billion into the company.
4Microsoft officials did not name a number for the latest investment.
5But people with knowledge of talks between the two companies recently told Reuters news agency the amount was at least $10 billion.
6OpenAI is a research and development company centered on AI projects.
7The startup was launched in late 2015 by American billionaire Elon Musk and others.
8On its website, OpenAI declares that it exists "to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity."
9The company defines AGI as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at economically valuable work."
10In late November, OpenAI launched a free writing tool called ChatGPT.
11The launch led to widespread media attention about the current possibilities involving new developments in AI.
12ChatGPT is part of a new generation of machine-learning systems designed to produce many forms of human-like writing.
13The tool can autonomously produce complex documents in seconds.
14Technology experts have said such systems have the possibility to greatly change many different industries and professions.
15ChatGPT is so good at writing school reports that some officials in the United States have blocked the system on school devices and networks in an effort to prevent students from cheating.
16Another OpenAI product called DALL-E can produce realistic images and art from a simple description in natural language.
17Basic versions of the two OpenAI products are free to the public.
18As part of its partnership, Microsoft provides "supercomputing systems" to OpenAI to support the development of new AI products.
19ChatGPT and DALL-E require powerful computers to operate the machine-learning models the systems use.
20OpenAI says the tools can produce human-like results because they have been trained on huge amounts of data.
21A range of materials - including digital books, online writings and other media - are fed into ChatGPT and DALL-E to permit the tools to learn complex skills.
22In a statement announcing its new investment in OpenAI, Microsoft said it will continue to deploy OpenAI's models across many of its product lines.
23Specifically, Microsoft said its partnership with OpenAI will permit the company to expand offerings in its Azure OpenAI service. Azure is Microsoft's cloud-computing service.
24Microsoft said Azure OpenAI Service helps developers build new AI systems by making OpenAI's models available to its users.
25Microsoft said that since 2016, it centered on efforts aimed at "building Azure into an AI supercomputer for the world."
26Rowan Curran is an expert with the market research company Forrester.
27He told The Associated Press he thinks it currently makes good sense for OpenAI and Microsoft to expand their relationship.
28"There's lots of ways that the models that OpenAI is building would be really appealing for Microsoft's set of offerings," Curran said.
29For example, OpenAI models could help produce writing and images for new business presentations or create smarter word processors.
30The technology could also help Microsoft's own search engine, Bing, compete more effectively with Google.
31AI could make Bing more user-friendly by providing search results that include more complete answers, rather than just links.
32OpenAI noted in a statement that it will still be governed by its nonprofit arm and that it remains a "capped-profit" company.
33OpenAI did not, however, identify what limits it sets on profits.
34Microsoft's investment came days after the company confirmed it was cutting 10,000 workers, representing about 5 percent of its total workforce.
35The company said the reductions were linked to "macroeconomic conditions" and changing customer needs.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1American technology company Microsoft has announced a new, multibillion-dollar investment in artificial intelligence (AI) developer OpenAI. 2The deal marks the latest deepening of ties between the two companies. Microsoft first invested in OpenAI in 2019, when it put $1 billion into the company. 3Microsoft officials did not name a number for the latest investment. But people with knowledge of talks between the two companies recently told Reuters news agency the amount was at least $10 billion. 4OpenAI is a research and development company centered on AI projects. The startup was launched in late 2015 by American billionaire Elon Musk and others. 5On its website, OpenAI declares that it exists "to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity." The company defines AGI as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at economically valuable work." 6In late November, OpenAI launched a free writing tool called ChatGPT. The launch led to widespread media attention about the current possibilities involving new developments in AI. 7ChatGPT is part of a new generation of machine-learning systems designed to produce many forms of human-like writing. The tool can autonomously produce complex documents in seconds. Technology experts have said such systems have the possibility to greatly change many different industries and professions. 8ChatGPT is so good at writing school reports that some officials in the United States have blocked the system on school devices and networks in an effort to prevent students from cheating. 9Another OpenAI product called DALL-E can produce realistic images and art from a simple description in natural language. 10Basic versions of the two OpenAI products are free to the public. 11As part of its partnership, Microsoft provides "supercomputing systems" to OpenAI to support the development of new AI products. 12ChatGPT and DALL-E require powerful computers to operate the machine-learning models the systems use. OpenAI says the tools can produce human-like results because they have been trained on huge amounts of data. A range of materials - including digital books, online writings and other media - are fed into ChatGPT and DALL-E to permit the tools to learn complex skills. 13Microsoft to expand services with AI 14In a statement announcing its new investment in OpenAI, Microsoft said it will continue to deploy OpenAI's models across many of its product lines. Specifically, Microsoft said its partnership with OpenAI will permit the company to expand offerings in its Azure OpenAI service. Azure is Microsoft's cloud-computing service. 15Microsoft said Azure OpenAI Service helps developers build new AI systems by making OpenAI's models available to its users. Microsoft said that since 2016, it centered on efforts aimed at "building Azure into an AI supercomputer for the world." 16Rowan Curran is an expert with the market research company Forrester. He told The Associated Press he thinks it currently makes good sense for OpenAI and Microsoft to expand their relationship. 17"There's lots of ways that the models that OpenAI is building would be really appealing for Microsoft's set of offerings," Curran said. 18For example, OpenAI models could help produce writing and images for new business presentations or create smarter word processors. The technology could also help Microsoft's own search engine, Bing, compete more effectively with Google. AI could make Bing more user-friendly by providing search results that include more complete answers, rather than just links. 19OpenAI noted in a statement that it will still be governed by its nonprofit arm and that it remains a "capped-profit" company. OpenAI did not, however, identify what limits it sets on profits. 20Microsoft's investment came days after the company confirmed it was cutting 10,000 workers, representing about 5 percent of its total workforce. The company said the reductions were linked to "macroeconomic conditions" and changing customer needs. 21I'm Bryan Lynn. 22The Associated Press, Reuters and Microsoft reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 23_________________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25artificial intelligence - n. the development of computer systems that have the ability to perform work that normally requires human intelligence 26benefit - n. a good result or effect 27autonomous - adj. having the ability to work independently 28cap - v. to put a limit on an amount of money that can be borrowed, charged, etc. 29customer - n. a person or company that buys goods and services 30____________________________________________________________ 31What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.