Singapore’s Temasek is in discussions to invest in Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, The Financial Times reported citing two people familiar with the matter.
According to the portal, senior executives from the Singaporean state investment firm have reportedly met OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman on multiple occasions in recent months.
This development follows a Bloomberg report last month that Altman is working to secure US government approval for a massive venture to boost global manufacturing of artificial intelligence chips.
Initially, Temasek was keen on investing in Altman’s venture capital fund, Hydrazine Capital. But recent talks included the AI non-profit, the FT reported, citing a separate source.
OpenAI was founded in 2015. Its investors include Microsoft, which is its largest; Khosla Ventures; Thrive Capital; Andreessen Horowitz; and Sequoia Capital. The company launched ChatGPT in late 2022 which put the spotlight on generative AI technologies.
Generative AI and AI-related startups raised nearly $50 billion in 2023, per Crunchbase data, with some, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Inflection AI, raking in billions of dollars all by themselves.
Temasek is an active investor in the tech sector with a portfolio valued at $382 billion as of March 31, 2023, according to its website. Some of the companies in its portfolio include Roblox, Tencent and Alibaba.
