IBM's Focus on Enterprise AI
IBM has announced the launch of a $500 million Enterprise AI Venture Fund with the aim of accelerating generative AI technology and research for the enterprise. While generative AI products for the consumer market have been making waves, IBM is primarily focused on developing enterprise-level solutions with its Watson X platform and cloud offerings.
The Potential of AI for Productivity and Profitability
Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President at IBM, believes that generative AI technologies will be a driving force for productivity and profitability in the next decade. He states, "AI is slated to unlock nearly $16 trillion in productivity by 2030. With the launch of the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund, we're opening another channel to harness the enormous potential of the AI revolution into tangible, positive outcomes for IBM and the companies we invest in."
Investing in a Range of AI Companies
Details about how IBM plans to invest its $500 million AI Venture Fund are scarce. However, according to a company blog post, the fund will primarily focus on generative AI tech and will be used to invest in a range of AI companies, from early-stage startups to hyper-growth firms.
Continued Support for Open Source Platforms
IBM's investment in the AI space doesn't stop at startups. The company recently participated in a $235 million funding round for generative AI firm Hugging Face, known for its transformer libraries that are foundational for generative pretrained transformer (GPT) AI models. Additionally, IBM actively supports the development of open source platforms, models, and protocols.
"I am convinced that they'll be able to accelerate their impact on AI with the IBM Enterprise AI Venture Fund," says Thomas.
