A wave of generative AI investment rushed into the market after ChatGPT launched in November 2022, as companies all over the world sought to take advantage of this technology’s revolutionary potential.
According to data from Pitchbook, AI startups raised more than $68.7 billion in funding over the course of the year, demonstrating the significant interest from investors to support emerging players in the field.
Tech behemoths like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have also committed a substantial amount of capital to generative AI startups. Microsoft, in particular, has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI in an effort to incorporate AI tools and applications into its entire range of products.
It has occasionally been difficult to keep up with the enormous amounts of money that have been flowing into AI startups over the past 12 months.
ITPro has compiled a list of some of the largest generative AI investment deals of 2023 to keep you informed.
Who made a big investment in generative AI in 2023?
OPENAI
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has rapidly come to represent the generative AI craze. They’ve attracted a significant amount of funding and served as the model for numerous imitation tools.
Despite having a number of investors, Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in January stands out the most.
They have raised roughly $11.3 billion in total this year, demonstrating their clear desire to stay ahead of the competition. Authorities have expressed concern in recent months about Microsoft and OpenAI’s close relationship, as the two are thought to be merging.
It is evident, nevertheless, that Microsoft sees OpenAI as a crucial component of its goal to keep leading the generative AI race and set itself apart from rivals.
The entire range of Microsoft’s product offerings, from Microsoft 365 to Copilot support in Windows and Azure, have included OpenAI tools. OpenAI is ingrained in all of the company’s products.
DATABRICKS
With big plans for a new AI-based data intelligence platform, Databricks, an AI-powered data intelligence platform, has been quietly making headway in the generative AI market.
The business raised $500 million in September, increasing its valuation to an incredible $43 billion.
Databricks is developing quickly and has even gone on an acquisition binge this year, despite not sharing the spotlight as much as other industry participants.
The company declared in October that it has acquired Arcion, a provider of enterprise data, for approximately $100 million.
Additionally, Databricks has addressed worries that dominant players in the AI industry seem set on dominating the market and has been a vocal critic of competitors in the field.
A senior company official claimed to ITPro in June that OpenAI and other tech behemoths have “widely overstated” the risks associated with AI in an effort to gain control over the sector.
MISTRAL AI
Known as the European counterpart of OpenAI, Mistral recently closed a $415 million Series A funding round early in December.
The French startup’s valuation increased to almost $2 billion during this funding round.
Mistral AI and Google Cloud announced a partnership subsequent to this investment. Despite not being a financial transaction, Mistral will probably now be in line with Google’s AI initiatives.
Several prominent industry players have now backed up-and-coming AI innovators like Mistral, and in the coming year, all eyes will be on the Paris-based company as it gets ready to take on US competitors.
INFLECTION AI
The company behind the conversational AI chatbot Pi, Inflection AI, raised an incredible $1.3 billion in funding in June as part of a funding round that included significant players in the market like Microsoft and Nvidia.
With this round of funding, Inflection’s valuation increased to about $4 billion.
Like Databricks, Inflection has been quietly innovating this year, lacking the exaggeration and fanfare of major players in the industry like OpenAI. But that doesn’t mean it’s not creating a stir.
The company unveiled Inflection 2, its flagship large language model (LLM), in November. The company claimed at the time that this potent model, with the exception of GPT-4, could outperform the majority of industry models.
ANTHROPIC
Anthropic, the OpenAI competitor, has raised a total of approximately $6 billion in a spectacular year.
AWS declared in September that it would become the company’s main cloud provider and invest $4 billion in the San Francisco-based company. Following this support, Google quickly announced a $2 billion deal to support Anthropic.
It appears that Anthropic has positioned itself exceptionally well this year, having the support of two of the three main hyperscalers. Anthropic seems to be AWS and Google’s favorite opponent against OpenAI in 2024 and beyond.
Anthropic just announced this week that it would be seeking an additional $750 million in funding, with Melo Ventures leading the round. In 2024, Anthropic is undoubtedly one to watch.