Intel discussed $1B investment in OpenAI in 2017, 2018, Reuters reports

In 2017 and 2018, Intel (INTC) and OpenAI executives discussed Intel buying a 15% stake for $1B in cash, but Intel’s then-CEO Bob Swan did not go forward with the deal, Reuters’ Max A. Cherney reports. According to three sources, Swan did not think generative AI models would make it to market in the near future and thus repay the chipmaker’s investment. OpenAI was interested in an investment from Intel because it would have reduced their reliance on Nvidia’s (NVDA) chips and allowed the startup to build its own infrastructure, Cherney writes. OpenAI is now valued at about $80B, according to the report, which notes that Microsoft (MSFT) stepped into make an investment in 2019.