Ignoring the warnings of some high-tech leaders, PwC is pursuing and investment strategy that relies heavily on direct investment in generative AI. (Source: PwC website)

PricewaterhouseCoopers Is Betting $1 Billion on Generative AI, Advising Clients on Its Use

If you aren’t familiar with PricewaterhouseCoopers or PWC as they are known, there is a pretty good chance you will be. Or at least you should be aware of who they are and what they are planning to do.

While many of the top echelon of leaders on all levels of AI have written letters of warning about allowing generative AI to be turned loose on the public, PWC is ready to invest $1 billion in AI companies over the next three years and plans to help its clients adapt their business workflows with generative AI.

Here is a detailed article from venturebeat.com that interviews the leaders of PWC. The points of interest are many, according to the author Victor Dey. Here is his take on the recent PWC news.

PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC) announced a major partnership with Microsoft to “develop scalable AI solutions, harnessing OpenAI’s cutting-edge GPT-4/ChatGPT technology alongside Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service.” PwC hopes to usher in a “new era of innovation, propelling the company to greater heights by unleashing generative AI’s full potential.”

With all of the priceless publicity ChatGPT along with Microsoft gained in the past 6 months due to Azure OpenAI Services that billion-dollar investment by PWC looks like a pretty good bet to succeed. PWC has a wide portfolio of businesses they have invested in over the years. The investments and variety of products are listed on its homepage.

New Age of AI

PwC has already hit the ground running, implementing advanced capabilities within Azure OpenAI Service for clients across an array of industries, from insurance to aviation, healthcare, and beyond.

“AI is already transforming business, and generative AI has not only captured the world’s attention, but it also represents an important tipping point in bringing this powerful technology to everyone,” Joe Atkinson, chief products and technology officer at PwC, told VentureBeat. “We believe that AI, used in a responsible and trusted way, will revolutionize how we all live and work. This is why we decided to invest $1 billion over the next three years to expand and scale our artificial intelligence offerings.”

Is it a good plan? We will see. PWC claims to want transparency and evidently, they don’t fear the power of generative AI as much as many other AI experts do.

Atkinson believes that over the longer term, every industry will be transformed by the continued advances in AI.

“Transparency and trust are critical to the application of any technology, but it is particularly true with AI,” he said. “The guardrails should extend beyond good intentions and policy statements — they must align on practices and actions that serve the organization and their constituents, not only in their current state, but as the technology continues to evolve.”

read more at venturebeat.com