OpenAI has made its second acquisition in as many weeks after snapping up collaboration start-up Multi.
Multi focuses heavily on software development and is designed to help developers collaborate remotely. Features include Simultaneous screen sharing, shared cursors and a keyboard-first user interface.
Tech Crunch characterised the acquisition as an “acqui-hire”, with the majority of Multi’s five-strong team joining OpenAI.
Multi will be shut down on 24 July as part of the deal.
Co-Founder Alexander Embiricos said in a blog post: “What if desktop computers were inherently multiplayer?
“What if the operating system placed people on equal footing to apps? Those were the questions we explored in building Multi, and before that, Remotion.
“Recently, we’ve been increasingly asking ourselves how we should work with computers. Not on or using computers, but truly with computers. With AI. We believe it’s one of the most important product questions of our time.
“And so, we’re beyond excited to share that Multi is joining OpenAI!”
Double Acquisition
OpenAI made its first acquisition last week in the form of analytics start-up Rockset to enhance its retrieval infrastructure.
Rockset, known for its real-time analytics databases, provides excellent data indexing and querying capabilities.
OpenAI said the acquisition will empower users, developers, and enterprises to utilise their data more effectively, facilitating the creation of innovative AI-driven products and ensuring real-time access to vital information.
Last month, OpenAI introduced GPT-4o, a significant upgrade to ChatGPT that enhances its speed and ability to efficiently process images, audio, and text.
OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced GPT-4o during a live stream. It is described as a “much faster” version of the ChatGPT model, offering improved text, vision, and audio capabilities.
OpenAI reports that GPT-4o achieves notable audio input response times, averaging 320 milliseconds and reaching speeds as fast as 232 milliseconds, comparable to human conversational response times. Its performance in processing English text and code is on par with OpenAI’s advanced GPT-4 Turbo model, with considerable improvements in handling non-English languages.
Additionally, earlier this month, OpenAI announced the appointment of Sarah Friar as its new Chief Financial Officer and Kevin Weil as its new Chief Product Officer.
OpenAI appointed Friar as its first CFO in this recent executive restructuring. The nonprofit AI research company is developing a strategy to increase revenues from its enterprise-targeted AI products and services.
