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Microsoft Will Exclusively License OpenAI’s GPT-3 Model

Although GPT-3 has a running start, be on the lookout for competition from Amazon and Google.
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Francis Scialabba

· less than 3 min read

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Yesterday, Microsoft announced it will exclusively license OpenAI’s GPT-3. With 175 billion parameters, it’s considered the largest and most advanced language model ever created.

While I don’t have a natural language processing (NLP) to-do list, Microsoft probably does. Here’s what could be on it, now that Microsoft has GPT-3 on speed dial:

  • Expand Azure cognitive services
  • Boost semantic search in Teams
  • Generate Word doc summaries
  • Advance Xbox in-game dialogue

TL;DR: This partnership is a BFD for NLP.

Acronyms and algorithms

Let’s rewind: GPT-3 is a massive neural network that uses deep learning to generate human-like text… convincingly. Here’s a visual explainer.

OpenAI, founded initially as a nonprofit in 2015, has been struggling to juggle a noble mission and monetization since it added a capped profit arm last year.

  • In June, OpenAI began commercializing its research via a cloud service to help reach its ultimate goal: artificial general intelligence (AGI) to benefit humanity.

MSFT + GPT-3 = ?

Good news for startups building on GPT-3: The deal shouldn’t affect existing users’ access to the API, according to OpenAI, and “existing and future users of it will continue building applications...as usual.”

  • Alan Walton, CTO of entertainment software startup Latitude, told us yesterday was a “normal Tuesday” since his team already uses OpenAI’s Azure-hosted API.
  • Email automation startup OthersideAI doesn’t foresee any major changes, either—though co-founder Miles Feldstein told us he predicts Microsoft will use GPT-3 to build a tool that competes with their own.

But, but, but: Some startups “will certainly have to adapt and meter their GPT-3 usage,” Jay Alammar, a machine learning engineer and blogger, told us. Regardless, Microsoft will have exclusive access to GPT-3's underlying code, which should give it a leg up on all fronts.

The competition: GPT-3 has a running start, but Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform will likely announce competing NLP models—maybe within the year.

  • “The potential for massive language models is too unpredictable for the major clouds to leave completely to OpenAI,” Alammar told us.
Keep up with the innovative tech transforming business

Tech Brew keeps business leaders up-to-date on the latest innovations, automation advances, policy shifts, and more, so they can make informed decisions about tech.