ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. But artificial-intelligence chatbots require vast cloud computing resources to do so. That would go along way with any rivals expected to outgrow it, such as cloud from startup Anthropic, and other ventures looking to capitalize on “generic AI,” which Bill Gates recently described as “every bit as PC.” important, as the Internet”. ,
While users are thrilled with AI programs that can answer questions and generate images in seconds, “the cost of computation is eye-watering,” noted Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, in December.
This helps explain why OpenAI this week launched ChatGPT Plus, a $20 monthly subscription that gives AI chatbots faster response times and better access when they’re otherwise down due to traffic.
But it also points to the need for AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic to partner with a handful of tech giants that can provide the highly expensive cloud computing resources they need to operate. And such arrangements are raising concerns among antitrust regulators. Those are “exactly the kinds of scenarios the Federal Trade Commission has said they’re going to focus on,” William Kovacic, who previously led the FTC, told Reuters. financial Times,
“There is growing concern about how large information services companies are limiting the opportunities for a new generation of competitors to get ahead,” Kovacic said.
OpenAI is now deeply involved with Microsoft, which announced last month that it would invest billions more in the venture. The tech giant also invested $1 billion in 2019, then quietly added another $2 billion in 2021.
Anthropic this week announced a $300 million investment from Google that gives the latter a 10% stake in the venture. In late November another generative AI startup, Stability AI—users of its tools can generate impressive images from text prompts—announced that it had chosen Amazon Web Services as its partner.
Tech giants glean insight into the personnel and capabilities in such startups, yet do little to stop them from working on similar products. Google Assistant DeepMind is reportedly preparing to launch Sparrow, another ChatGPT rival.
For startups, it is difficult to jump from one cloud provider to another. Many people may find themselves essentially locked into one of them, even if there is no specific agreement.
Yellow Dog CEO Tom Bise told the FT: “Some academics who want to go into their own startups have their first conversation with cloud providers before they’ve even recruited developers because they know it’s impossibly expensive.” “It is important.”
Bez’s firm helps customers switch between cloud services, but he said he was aware of several alliances between AI startups and cloud providers that were formed before the products were even launched.
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