OpenAI is on an M&A tear.
Days after acquiring database tech firm Rockset, OpenAI has purchased Multi (previously Remotion), a startup developing an enterprise-focused, video-first collaboration platform. A source acquainted with the matter says that the deal is technically an acqui-hire and that almost all of Multi’s team — around five people — will join OpenAI following the deal’s close.
Alexander Embiricos, Multi’s CEO and certainly one of its co-founders, says that Multi will shut down after July 24.
“We’re beyond excited to share that Multi is joining OpenAI,” he wrote in a post on Multi’s blog. “Thanks to everybody who used Multi. It was a privilege constructing with you, and we learned a ton from you.”
With Multi, Embiricos (an ex-Dropbox product manager) and Multi’s second co-founder, Charley Ho (an ex-Google software engineer), got down to construct a Zoom-based platform designed for distant teams to work together through video chats. Multi offered features like the power to collaborate across screen shares from as much as 10 people at the identical time, customizable shortcuts and automatic deep links for code, designs and documents.
Based on Crunchbase data, Multi raised $13 million in money from VCs including Greylock and First Round Capital prior to Monday’s exit.
As with the Rockset buy, the Multi deal seems to suit into OpenAI’s broader recent strategy of investing heavily in enterprise solutions. OpenAI recently revealed that the company tier of its viral AI-powered chatbot platform, ChatGPT, had near 600,000 users, including 93% of all Fortune 500 firms.
In May, OpenAI signed an agreement with PwC to resell OpenAI’s tools to other businesses. The month before, the corporate launched a business-oriented custom AI model tuning and consulting program.
The enterprise buys seem like paying dividends, with OpenAI’s revenue set to eclipse $3.4 billion this yr, per The Information.
Along the identical vein as OpenAI’s other corporate-aimed product efforts, could we at some point see a spruced-up ChatGPT with videoconferencing and distant collaboration capabilities? Perhaps. I wouldn’t put it past OpenAI — particularly because the lag time between the org’s flagship models lengthens.
