IBM has announced the creation of a $500 million Enterprise AI Venture Fund to accelerate research in generative AI technology for enterprise solutions. The fund will focus on investments in AI companies, ranging from early-stage startups to hyper-growth firms, and support the development of generative AI products. This initiative aligns with IBM's focus on generative AI for enterprise applications, such as its Watson X platform and cloud offerings. The fund follows IBM's recent investments in generative AI firm Hugging Face and machine learning security platform Hidden Layer.
IBM has unveiled its new $500 million Enterprise AI Venture Fund with a focus on advancing generative AI technology and research tailored for enterprise applications. While consumer-oriented generative AI products like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard have garnered attention in 2023, IBM is setting its sights on enterprise-level solutions, including its Watson X platform and various cloud offerings.
According to Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President at IBM, generative AI technologies are poised to play a pivotal role in driving productivity and profitability over the next decade. The fund's launch reflects IBM's commitment to harness the potential of AI for tangible, positive outcomes within the enterprise space.
Details about specific investments and initiatives supported by the fund remain limited, but IBM has stated that it will primarily focus on generative AI technologies. The fund aims to invest in a wide range of AI companies, spanning from early-stage startups to hyper-growth companies. IBM's participation in the $235 million Series D funding round for Hugging Face, a generative AI firm known for its transformer libraries that underpin foundational generative pretrained transformer (GPT) AI models, underscores the company's commitment to driving innovation in this domain.
This initiative builds upon IBM's ongoing trend of investing in enterprise AI startups while actively promoting the development of open-source AI platforms, models, and protocols. By supporting open-source ecosystems, IBM aims to accelerate the impact of AI and foster collaborative innovation within the industry. Clem Delangue, Co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, expressed confidence in the collaborative potential with IBM, stating that their contribution to the open-source ecosystem is significant and that IBM's involvement will further accelerate the impact of AI.
(TRISTAN GREENE, COINTELEGRAPH, 2023)