SAN FRANCISCO ¨C For U.S. chip giant Intel ¡ª the darling of the computer age before it fell on harder times in the artificial intelligence era ¡ª things might have been quite different.
About seven years ago, the company had the chance to buy a stake in OpenAI, then a fledgling nonprofit research organization working in a little-known field called generative artificial intelligence, four people with direct knowledge of those discussions have said.
Over several months in 2017 and 2018, executives at the two companies discussed various options, including Intel buying a 15% stake for $1 billion in cash, three of the people said. They also discussed Intel taking an additional 15% stake in OpenAI if it made hardware for the startup at cost price, two people said.
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