Silicon Valley has been swept up by the latest sensation: ChatGPT, the conversational robot from OpenAI. This app has generated a gold rush among investors who are on the lookout for the next big thing in generative AI, a technology that many believe is the future of big tech.
Generative AI uses vast amounts of data to produce original content, such as images, poems, or essays, in mere seconds. Since its discreet launch in November, ChatGPT has become one of the fastest-growing apps ever. Its popularity has forced tech giants like Microsoft and Google to rush out similar projects that had until then been kept under wraps due to concerns that the technology wasn’t yet ready for the public.
The explosion of generative AI comes at a time of widespread contraction in the tech sector, with numerous companies laying off employees and struggling for survival. Despite this, generative AI companies are thriving, and market valuations for them have soared.
Entrepreneurs specializing in generative AI say that they no longer have to struggle to attract attention or explain what they’re trying to offer. Investors and customers alike are eager for ChatGPT-like capabilities. The demand for generative AI is seemingly limitless, and not just from investors but also from customers.
While tech giants like Microsoft and Google have been in the news due to their involvement in the development of generative AI, a host of start-ups also have exciting ideas to offer. Funding rounds for start-ups like Kognitos and Poly are examples of this trend.
According to venture capitalists, this ChatGPT gold rush could be unprecedented and expand well beyond generative AI. The technology is accessible to any developer, which means that even those without a computer science degree can build something amazing on top of ChatGPT and other foundation models. This wave of AI could be bigger than mobile or the cloud and could have a significant impact on human history, similar to the Industrial Revolution.
