OpenAI is the creator of wildly successful GPT-3, which was the largest language model to be released last year only to have an exclusive licence being acquired by Microsoft after an investment of $ 1 billion in OpenAI. The GPT-3 is being used by developers across the globe for 'writing' realistic dialogues, summarising complex documents, answering customer service questions, and making search better than ever before.

Early last week, OpenAI announced (https://openai.com/fund/) that it will be launching a $100 million start-up fund under the name OpenAI Startup Fund to invest in start-up companies that focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) based products that can have an impact on various problems, including productivity. OpenAI founder Sam Altman announced the news at Microsoft's Build conference who, amongst many others, are partners in the fund

Altman, through a pre-recorded video, which is a part of an official announcement by OpenAI,  explains the purpose of the fund. “This is not a typical corporate venture fund. We plan to make big early bets on a relatively small number of companies, probably not more than 10.” Further details on how the funds will be disbursed, the timeline for the fund and the fund's place in a short or long-term program are yet to be disclosed. 

However, Altman did clarify that they will choose to invest in companies that are using AI to address serious issues such as healthcare, climate change and education to “benefit all of humanity,” in keeping with OpenAI’s mission statement. 

The companies that will be selected for the OpenAI Startup Fund will also receive access to OpenAI systems such as the GPT-3 and Azure resources from Microsoft which should help selected companies launch ready-to-scale, fully formed programs. However, OpenAI has not yet clarified the equity agreement, expectations for startups, other partners or any further details. 

The application process is surprisingly minimal, which would mean that tens and hundreds of companies will jump at the opportunity.