OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hosted hundreds of Fortune 500 executives in San Francisco, New York and London this month, where he and other OpenAI executives pitched AI services for enterprise use, in some cases with financial backing. Microsoft went head-to-head. attendees told Reuters.
The roadshow-like events illustrate how the company, which has sparked an explosion of generative artificial intelligence through its consumer products, is looking to add new revenue streams from businesses around the world — some of which may come from the home turf of its largest partners .
Three meetings with senior business executives – two of which took place in the United States last week and one in London on Monday – had not previously been reported.
Altman spoke directly to more than 100 executives in each city at the event, according to attendees who spoke on condition of anonymity.
At each event, Altman and COO Brad Lightcap provided product demos, including ChatGPT Enterprise (an enterprise-grade version of its famous chatbot that can generate text based on simple prompts), connecting customer applications to its AI services (called APIs) software and its new text-to-video model.
OpenAI promises that ChatGPT Enterprise customers’ data will not be used to train its models. In conversations with potential customers in industries such as finance, healthcare and energy, OpenAI executives highlighted a range of applications, such as call center management and translation. They note that more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies are already using consumer versions of their chatbots.
Microsoft is OpenAI’s largest investor, providing access to OpenAI technology through its Azure cloud and selling Microsoft 365 Copilot, a productivity tool powered by OpenAI’s enterprise-focused model.
Attendees said some executives in the event audience asked why they should pay for ChatGPT Enterprise if they were already Microsoft customers.
According to those present, Altman and Lightcap responded that paying for enterprise services allows them to work directly with the OpenAI team, obtain the latest models, and have greater access to customized AI products.
OpenAI and Microsoft declined to comment.
OpenAI, last valued at $86 billion (roughly Rs. 71,899.8 crore) in secondary sales, has been working to diversify its revenue streams since its chatbot ChatGPT exploded in popularity in late 2022. It is expected to achieve a valuation of $1 billion (approximately Rs. 71,899.8 crore). The revenue target for 2024 is expected to be around Rs 8,359 crore, sources said.
While it tries to build new consumer products like the ChatGPT marketplace store, the company expects sales to businesses to become a more meaningful part of its revenue. Lightcap told Bloomberg that more than 600,000 people had signed up to use ChatGPT Enterprise and Team last week, up from about 150,000 in January.
Lightcap is OpenAI’s key executive focused on enterprise adoption, and he also spent time in Hollywood talking to studio executives to promote the company’s Sora video creation tool. The technology, which creates and refines videos based on users’ textual descriptions, is causing excitement and anxiety in the creative industry.
Two major Hollywood studios told Reuters they were seeking early access to begin exploring applications, despite some concerns about the source of the video used to train Sora, the reliability of the output and its ability to protect copyrighted works.
Fox and News Corp. also hosted Altman at a leadership retreat last October, where Altman participated in a question-and-answer session, according to a person familiar with the matter.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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