The rise of OpenAI and Microsoft's $13 billion bet on the AI startup

OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot, was founded in 2015 by a number of researchers, academics and entrepreneurs, including Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Elon Musk.

Altman and Brockman are still at OpenAI, serving as CEO and president, respectively. Musk departed in 2018. At the time, OpenAI said Musk left to avoid a conflict of interest with his other company, Tesla, which was becoming increasingly focused on AI. In the years since, OpenAI has grown into one of the prominent leaders in AI development. 

OpenAI gained popularity in late 2022 after releasing ChatGPT, a chatbot that can answer user questions in a manner that sounds like a human. The company also has tools that can generate images and videos from text prompts. OpenAI now reportedly generates annual revenue of $3.4 billion, and has notable customers, including PwC, Moderna and Estée Lauder. Microsoft has invested about $13 billion into the AI startup.

But OpenAI's wild success has also raised concerns from regulators and experts, who question the outsized power that AI companies and Big Tech could have on our society as well as the stress the technology could cause on our power grid. Watch the video to find out more.