Alphabet and Nvidia Invest in OpenAI Co-Founder's AI Startup, Safe Superintelligence

Exclusive: Alphabet, Nvidia invest in OpenAI co-founder Sutskever's SSI, source says

SAN FRANCISCO, April 11 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab have joined prominent venture capital investors to back Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup co-founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever that has quickly risen to become one of the most valuable artificial intelligence startups months after its launch, a source familiar with the matter said. The funding illustrates renewed interest from the big tech and infrastructure providers in making strategic investments in the startups developing cutting-edge AI that requires massive amounts of computing power. Alphabet, which has its own AI models, earlier in the week announced a deal by its cloud computing arm to sell SSI access to tensor processing units (TPUs), its in-house AI chips. SSI, which sources say was recently valued at $32 billion in a round led by Greenoaks, is one of the highest-profile startups working on AI model research, thanks to Sutskever's stellar track record in predicting the next big thing in AI development. Like many of its competitors, it has a huge demand for chips. Reuters could not determine the exact terms of Alphabet's and Nvidia's investment in SSI. Spokespeople for all three companies declined to comment. The twin moves by Alphabet's corporate and cloud division with high-profile AI labs including SSI and Anthropic show the tech giant's evolving AI hardware strategy. Google originally reserved TPUs for in-house use. The deal to sell SSI chips in significant quantities to support its frontier AI research exemplifies the company's ongoing strategy to expand sales to external customers, Darren Mowry, a managing director in charge of Google's partnerships with startups, said in an interview with Reuters this week. "With these foundational model builders, the gravity is increasing dramatically over to us," he said. AI developers have historically preferred Nvidia's graphics processing units, which hold more than 80% of the AI chips market. But SSI is so far primarily using TPUs rather than GPUs for its AI research and development, two sources said. Google offers both Nvidia GPUs and its own TPUs through its cloud service. Its own chips are intended to excel at specific AI tasks and are more efficient than general-purpose GPUs. These chips have been used to build large-scale AI models, such as Apple(AAPL.O), opens new tab and Anthropic, an OpenAI competitor that has received billions of dollars of funding from Google and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab. Google and Nvidia also face a challenger in Amazon, which is building its own competing processors called Trainium and Inferentia. Amazon has said as far back as 2023 that Anthropic would develop its technology on those chips. The tech giant announced in December that Anthropic would be the first customer to use a massive supercomputer powered by hundreds of thousands of its own chips. In the meantime, Anthropic continues to use TPUs for its AI development and has not decreased spending on Google's chips, two sources said. It is increasingly common for major cloud providers to invest heavily in AI startups that not only build foundational models but also serve as significant customers of their infrastructure. For instance, Amazon and Google have both invested in Anthropic, while Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab has placed substantial bets on OpenAI. Nvidia has also backed OpenAI, as well as Elon Musk's xAI. Reporting by Kenrick Cai in Las Vegas, Max Cherney in San Francisco and Krystal Hu in New York; editing by Diane Craft Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence Kenrick Cai Thomson Reuters Kenrick Cai is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco. He covers Google, its parent company Alphabet and artificial intelligence. Cai joined Reuters in 2024. He previously worked at Forbes magazine, where he was a staff writer covering venture capital and startups. He received a Best in Business award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing in 2023. He is a graduate of Duke University. Krystal Hu Thomson Reuters Krystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing. Previously, she reported on Amazon for Yahoo Finance, and her investigation of the company's retail practice was cited by lawmakers in Congress. Krystal started a career in journalism by writing about tech and politics in China. She has a master's degree from New York University, and enjoys a scoop of Matcha ice cream as much as getting a scoop at work.

Alphabet, Nvidia invest in OpenAI cofounder Sutskever's SSI

The funding illustrates renewed interest from the big tech and infrastructure providers in making strategic investments in the startups developing cutting-edge AI that requires massive amounts of computing power. Alphabet, which has its own AI models, earlier in the week announced a deal by its cloud computing arm to sell SSI access to tensor processing units (TPUs), its in-house AI chips.Alphabet and Nvidia have joined prominent venture capital investors to back Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup co-founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever that has quickly risen to become one of the most valuable artificial intelligence startups months after its launch, a source familiar with the matter said. The funding illustrates renewed interest from the big tech and infrastructure providers in making strategic investments in the startups developing cutting-edge AI that requires massive amounts of computing power. Alphabet, which has its own AI models, earlier in the week announced a deal by its cloud computing arm to sell SSI access to tensor processing units (TPUs), its in-house AI chips. SSI, which sources say was recently valued at $32 billion in a round led by Greenoaks, is one of the highest-profile startups working on AI model research, thanks to Sutskever's stellar track record in predicting the next big thing in AI development. Like many of its competitors, it has a huge demand for chips. Reuters could not determine the exact terms of Alphabet's and Nvidia's investment in SSI. Spokespeople for all three companies declined to comment. The twin moves by Alphabet's corporate and cloud division with high-profile AI labs including SSI and Anthropic show the tech giant's evolving AI hardware strategy. Google originally reserved TPUs for in-house use. The deal to sell SSI chips in significant quantities to support its frontier AI research exemplifies the company's ongoing strategy to expand sales to external customers, Darren Mowry, a managing director in charge of Google's partnerships with startups, said in an interview with Reuters this week. "With these foundational model builders, the gravity is increasing dramatically over to us," he said. AI developers have historically preferred Nvidia's graphics processing units, which hold more than 80% of the AI chips market. But SSI is so far primarily using TPUs rather than GPUs for its AI research and development, two sources said. Google offers both Nvidia GPUs and its own TPUs through its cloud service. Its own chips are intended to excel at specific AI tasks and are more efficient than general-purpose GPUs. These chips have been used to build large-scale AI models, such as Apple and Anthropic, an OpenAI competitor that has received billions of dollars of funding from Google and Amazon. Google and Nvidia also face a challenger in Amazon, which is building its own competing processors called Trainium and Inferentia. Amazon has said as far back as 2023 that Anthropic would develop its technology on those chips. The tech giant announced in December that Anthropic would be the first customer to use a massive supercomputer powered by hundreds of thousands of its own chips. In the meantime, Anthropic continues to use TPUs for its AI development and has not decreased spending on Google's chips, two sources said. It is increasingly common for major cloud providers to invest heavily in AI startups that not only build foundational models but also serve as significant customers of their infrastructure. For instance, Amazon and Google have both invested in Anthropic, while Microsoft has placed substantial bets on OpenAI. Nvidia has also backed OpenAI, as well as Elon Musk's xAI.

Nvidia, Alphabet To Back OpenAI Co-Founder Ilya Sutskever's New AI Startup Safe Superintelligence: Report - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Nvidia Corp. NVDA and Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL have reportedly decided to invest in the artificial intelligence startup co-founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. What Happened: The specific terms of Nvidia's and Alphabet's investments in Safe Superintelligence (SSI) have not been disclosed, reported Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter. Earlier this week, Alphabet's cloud division signed an agreement to provide SSI with access to its custom-built AI chips, known as tensor processing units (TPUs). See Also: Kevin O'Leary Says Xi Jinping Is 'Playing With Fire:' 'If This Gamble Doesn't Pay Off...' While TPUs were initially reserved for internal use only, Google is now scaling up external sales of these chips to support advanced AI research, the report noted, citing Darren Mowry, a managing director overseeing Google's startup collaborations Traditionally, AI developers have leaned on Nvidia's GPUs, which dominate the AI chip market with an over 80% share. However, according to two individuals familiar with the matter, SSI is largely relying on Google's TPUs over GPUs for its AI work. Google Cloud currently provides access to both Nvidia GPUs and its own TPUs. These proprietary chips are already instrumental in training major AI models -- including those from Anthropic, a key OpenAI rival supported by billions in funding from both Google and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. Meanwhile, Amazon has entered the fray with its own chips -- Trainium and Inferentia -- aimed at competing in the AI infrastructure space. As early as 2023, the company disclosed that Anthropic would build its systems using Amazon's chips. In December, Amazon unveiled a supercomputer powered by hundreds of thousands of its in-house processors, with Anthropic as its inaugural user. Despite these developments, sources say Anthropic continues to actively use Google's TPUs and hasn't cut back on its investments in them, the report said. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: The trend of cloud giants investing in AI startups that not only develop foundational models but also act as infrastructure clients is gaining momentum. Amazon and Google have both backed Anthropic, while Microsoft has made major investments in OpenAI. Nvidia, meanwhile, supports both OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI venture. SSI, which has reached a reported valuation of $32 billion in a funding round led by Greenoaks, has quickly become one of the most closely watched companies in the AI space. Meanwhile, Mira Murati, another former OpenAI executive, is also reportedly seeking to raise a record-breaking $2 billion for her new AI venture, Thinking Machines Lab. Amazon boasts an impressive growth score of 94.18%, according to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings. You can compare this with companies like Nvidia, Alphabet, and others by clicking here. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Ray Dalio, Who Predicted The 2008 Financial Crisis, Warns About Recession As US-China Tariff War Escalates Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock AMZNAmazon.com Inc$185.002.09%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum62.11Growth94.19Quality79.76Value47.98Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$159.282.52%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$157.092.79%NVDANVIDIA Corp$110.702.91%Got Questions? AskWhich AI startups could benefit from SSI's growth?How will Nvidia and Alphabet improve their positions?Could Amazon face challenges from SSI's tech?What other AI chip makers might be impacted?Which cloud service providers could enter the AI race?How might investors capitalize on AI infrastructure trends?Is there potential for new AI partnerships with SSI?What sectors might benefit from AI advancements through SSI?Which public companies should be watched as AI evolves?How will competitive dynamics shift with SSI's emergence?Powered ByMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Exclusive-Alphabet, Nvidia invest in OpenAI co-founder Sutskever's SSI, source says

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alphabet and Nvidia have joined prominent venture capital investors to back Safe Superintelligence (SSI), a startup co-founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever that has quickly risen to become one of the most valuable artificial intelligence startups months after its launch, a source familiar with the matter said. The funding illustrates renewed interest from the big tech and infrastructure providers in making strategic investments in the startups developing cutting-edge AI that requires massive amounts of computing power. Alphabet, which has its own AI models, earlier in the week announced a deal by its cloud computing arm to sell SSI access to tensor processing units (TPUs), its in-house AI chips. SSI, which sources say was recently valued at $32 billion in a round led by Greenoaks, is one of the highest-profile startups working on AI model research, thanks to Sutskever's stellar track record in predicting the next big thing in AI development. Like many of its competitors, it has a huge demand for chips. Reuters could not determine the exact terms of Alphabet's and Nvidia's investment in SSI. Spokespeople for all three companies declined to comment. The twin moves by Alphabet's corporate and cloud division with high-profile AI labs including SSI and Anthropic show the tech giant's evolving AI hardware strategy. Google originally reserved TPUs for in-house use. The deal to sell SSI chips in significant quantities to support its frontier AI research exemplifies the company's ongoing strategy to expand sales to external customers, Darren Mowry, a managing director in charge of Google's partnerships with startups, said in an interview with Reuters this week. "With these foundational model builders, the gravity is increasing dramatically over to us," he said. AI developers have historically preferred Nvidia's graphics processing units, which hold more than 80% of the AI chips market. But SSI is so far primarily using TPUs rather than GPUs for its AI research and development, two sources said. Google offers both Nvidia GPUs and its own TPUs through its cloud service. Its own chips are intended to excel at specific AI tasks and are more efficient than general-purpose GPUs. These chips have been used to build large-scale AI models, such as Apple and Anthropic, an OpenAI competitor that has received billions of dollars of funding from Google and Amazon. Google and Nvidia also face a challenger in Amazon, which is building its own competing processors called Trainium and Inferentia. Amazon has said as far back as 2023 that Anthropic would develop its technology on those chips. The tech giant announced in December that Anthropic would be the first customer to use a massive supercomputer powered by hundreds of thousands of its own chips. In the meantime, Anthropic continues to use TPUs for its AI development and has not decreased spending on Google's chips, two sources said. It is increasingly common for major cloud providers to invest heavily in AI startups that not only build foundational models but also serve as significant customers of their infrastructure. For instance, Amazon and Google have both invested in Anthropic, while Microsoft has placed substantial bets on OpenAI. Nvidia has also backed OpenAI, as well as Elon Musk's xAI. (Reporting by Kenrick Cai in Las Vegas, Max Cherney in San Francisco and Krystal Hu in New York; editing by Diane Craft)