August 01, 2024 – According to a report by The Information on the 31st of the month, TikTok has been paying Microsoft nearly $20 million per month to purchase OpenAI models through them, as of March this year. This amount accounts for almost a quarter of Microsoft’s AI revenue, making TikTok one of the largest clients for Microsoft’s AI services.
In the competitive global cloud computing market, Microsoft has successfully transformed its cloud services into a lucrative business by integrating OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology. Microsoft’s cloud AI business is expected to generate an annual income of $1 billion. However, the report points out that if TikTok develops its own large language model, it may no longer need to rely heavily on these capabilities from Microsoft.
The report also mentioned that ByteDance is attempting to build its own AI model. According to The Verge, ByteDance has even utilized OpenAI’s technology to achieve these goals.
This current “dilemma” is not uncommon in the rapidly evolving AI field, and NVIDIA faces a similar situation as Microsoft. As an AI chip manufacturer, NVIDIA’s business is highly concentrated among giant technology companies. However, these clients, including Microsoft, have used NVIDIA’s hardware to build their own AI chips. This has raised concerns among investors and analysts, who fear that some of NVIDIA’s clients may eventually “no longer need” its products.
