Sam Altman’s OpenAI runs a startup fund that will invest $175 million in artificial intelligence companies that will “have a profound positive impact on the world.”
“We are a research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that AI is safe and benefits all of humanity,” Altman said in a video about the foundation.
“We want to support highly ambitious projects that aim to push the boundaries of what AI models can do and solve complex problems at the highest level.”
OpenAI did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.
Sam Altman’s OpenAI may be working on an even more human-like technology, the secret project is called “Strawberry.” Sam Altman’s OpenAI may be working on an even more human-like technology, the secret project is called “Strawberry.”
Founded in 2021, the fund is run by a team with expertise in investment, machine learning and engineering. Investors include Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest backer, and other OpenAI partners.
According to its website, OpenAI does not make any investments itself.
“We look to partner with early-stage startups in sectors where artificial intelligence has the potential to be transformative, including healthcare, law, education, energy and infrastructure, and science, and where AI tools have the potential to empower people by helping them be more productive,” the fund’s website says.
Altman, who handed over control of the fund to OpenAI partner Ian Hathaway earlier this year, said he doesn’t expect the fund to back more than 10 companies.
In an introductory video, Altman said that these “big early bets” on a “relatively small number” of ventures are what distinguish the OpenAI Startup Fund from other funds.
“The OpenAI Startup Fund is an important initiative in fostering innovation and accelerating the development of cutting-edge AI technologies,” Alon Yamin, co-founder and CEO of AI content detection service Copyleaks, told Techopedia.
“By providing funding and resources to early-stage companies, OpenAI not only accelerates technological advancements but also democratizes access to AI capabilities.”
In an introductory video, Altman said he and the company have been amazed by how users are using ChatGPT. He gave examples like conversations, summarizing documents, answering customer service questions and searching “better than ever before.” The fund wants to push those boundaries even further.
“We’re looking for startups in areas where AI can have the biggest positive impact,” Altman said, citing healthcare, climate change and education as industries where AI has the most potential to be disruptive. “We’re also looking at markets where AI can provide big productivity gains, like personal assistants and semantic search.”
In 2022, the fund introduced Converge, a five-week startup accelerator for engineers, designers, researchers and product developers, with select candidates being offered $1 million in equity investment.
Sam Altman gave up control of the OpenAI Startup Fund earlier this year. Sam Altman gave up control of the OpenAI Startup Fund earlier this year. Jason Redmond/Getty Images
First Investments
To date, the fund has invested in Descript, Mem, Speak, 1X, Kudo AI, Anysphere, Class Companion, Ghost Autonomy, Harvey, Ambience Healthcare, Figure AI and Thrive AI Health, startups working on developing AI applications in areas such as robotics, healthcare and law.
“We believe there is enormous value still to be unlocked by AI to the world,” Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI and manager of the OpenAI Startup Fund, said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with the talented founders and teams at Descript, Harvey AI, Mem, and Speak, who are developing tools that we believe will have a profound impact on everything from legal services to language learning, productivity and creative expression.”
explanation
Descript is an audio video editor that uses AI to transcribe and edit videos, making editing a video as easy as editing a text document.
Video editing with text and AI Video editing with text and AI Description
“In talking to customers, it’s clear that Descript is removing the barriers between idea and creation, extending video editing capabilities to an entirely new class of creators,” Lightcap said.
In November 2022, OpenAI led a $50 million funding round for Descript.
Mem
Mem is an AI-powered note-taking app that the OpenAI Startup Fund calls “the world’s first self-organizing workspace.”
“Mem uses powerful AI to remove the tedious, tedious tasks of organizing and accessing information, making knowledge workers more productive and ultimately allowing people to focus on the important parts of their work,” Lightcap said.
In November 2022, OpenAI led a $23.5 million funding round for Mem.
talk
Speak is a language learning platform and AI tutor that uses AI to help you learn English by providing feedback on your pronunciation and grammar. Tutors can have open conversations with users on a variety of topics.
The company initially began operations in East Asia, primarily in South Korea.
“We are thrilled to partner with the talented team at Speak. They are perfectly positioned to bring this powerful application of generative AI to life and make language learning effective and accessible,” Lightcap said. “Speak has the potential to revolutionize not only language learning, but education in general.”
In November 2022, OpenAI led a $27 million funding round into Speak.
1x
1X is a Norway-based company developing a bipedal humanoid robot called NEO and a wheeled robot called EVE.
1X EVE 1X EVE 1X
The company is looking to manufacture humanoids on a commercial scale to train learning models and work with partners. NEO and EVE are expected to become “smarter” about how to populate the world.
In March 2023, OpenAI led a $23.5 million funding round for 1X.
Kudo AI
Kudo AI provides JavaScript libraries to help developers build AI-driven applications.
In September 2023, OpenAI, along with other partner vendors such as Microsoft, awarded a $98,000 grant.
Any sphere
Anysphere develops AI-native software environments and human AI programmers.
The company’s first product, Cursor, is an AI-powered integrated development environment aimed at making engineers more productive by auto-completing code and allowing them to write code from plain English.
In October 2023, OpenAI invested $8 million in Anysphere.
Classmates
Class Companion is an AI-powered educational assistant that provides students with feedback on their assignments. The program supports a range of subjects and grade levels, saving teachers time while keeping students engaged.
In October 2023, OpenAI Startup Fund participated in Class Companion’s $4 million seed funding round.
Ghost Autonomy
Ghost Autonomy was a self-driving car software company that closed in August, becoming the fund’s first failed venture.
Ghost Autonomy was subsequently shut down, becoming the fund’s first failed investment. Ghost Autonomy was subsequently shut down, becoming the fund’s first failed investment. Ghost Autonomy
The company was looking for ways to implement large-scale language models in an autonomous driving environment.
In November 2023, OpenAI invested $5 million in Ghost Autonomy.
Harvey
Harvey is a generative AI platform for managing legal workflows, automating tasks like research and analysis to save lawyers time.
“We believe Harvey will transform the legal system, empowering lawyers to deliver higher quality legal services to more clients, more efficiently,” Lightcap said. “Harvey’s vision to increase access to legal services and improve outcomes through AI is perfectly aligned with our company’s mission, and we are excited to have Gabriel, Winston and the Harvey team accelerate the realization of this vision.”
In December 2023, OpenAI contributed to Harvey’s $80 million funding round.
Ambience Healthcare
Ambience Healthcare provides clinical documentation generated in real time with the aim of reducing clinician fatigue and improving system efficiency.
Kleiner Perkins and OpenAI Startup Fund led a $70 million funding round into Ambience Healthcare in February of this year.
Figure AI
Figure AI is another startup developing AI-powered humanoid robots that aim to assist industry and improve the “quality” of life. The goal is to deploy autonomous humanoid workers on a global scale and push the “limits of human achievement.” The first prototypes are being tested on BMW’s assembly line in South Carolina.
In February, OpenAI participated in Figure AI’s $675 million funding round.
Thrive AI Health
Earlier this month, Altman and Arianna Huffington announced a new initiative that promises to harness the power of AI to create personalized health coaches to help people reach their fitness and behavioral health goals.
Thrive AI Health is a collaboration between OpenAI and Huffington’s Thrive Global. The startup plans to create a bot that’s “trained on the personal biometric, lab, and other health data that users choose to share,” according to an essay written by Altman and Huffington announcing the partnership.
The idea is to create a “hyper-personalized” digital health coach that offers “real-time advice and recommendations unique to you.”
In July 2024, OpenAI and Thrive Global invested in Thrive AI Health.
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