A few weeks ago, it was reported that Apple was considering investing in OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, the GPT model, and other popular generative AI products. Now, a new report from the Wall Street Journal says that Apple has abandoned those plans.

The article simply states that Apple “dropped out of talks to join the round.” The round is expected to close in about a week and could raise up to $6.5 billion for the growing Silicon Valley company. Had Apple gone through with the move, it would have been a rare occurrence – although not entirely unprecedented – for Apple to have invested in another company of its size.

OpenAI is still expected to raise the funds it needs from other sources. According to the report, Microsoft is expected to invest around $1 billion in this round. Microsoft has already invested significantly in OpenAI, whose GPT models power Microsoft AI tools such as Copilot and Bing Chat.

Nvidia is also likely to be a major investor in this round.

Apple will soon offer limited ChatGPT integration in an upcoming iOS update, but plans to later support more models like Google’s Gemini, offering users a choice similar to how they select a default search engine or web browser.

OpenAI is successful with its products and models and has established itself as a market leader in the rapidly growing industry. But there has also been drama and controversy – most recently, some key OpenAI executives abruptly left the company and the company shifted its focus from a research-focused organization beholden to a nonprofit to a for-profit Silicon Valley company under CEO Sam Altman. Former Apple design lead Jony Ive is also confirmed to be working on a new AI product.

However, The Wall Street Journal did not elaborate on which (if any) of these facts were reasons why Apple decided to exit the investment.