The software manufacturer SAP does not want to leave the business with artificial intelligence (AI) only to the Americans. According to information from the F.A.Z., the Group is negotiating an investment in the Heidelberg start-up Aleph Alpha.

Sven Astheimer

Editor responsible for corporate reporting.

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Bernd Freytag

Business correspondent Rhein-Neckar-Saar based in Mainz.

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The young company, founded in 2019 by former Apple manager Jonas Andrulis, is considered one of the greatest hopes for independent European AI. According to the company, the "Luminous" program can keep up with ChatGPT from the market leader Open AI. This was the result of the results of a standardized performance comparison published in February.

According to information from the group's environment, SAP wants to participate in the current second round of financing, there is talk of an amount of less than 100 million euros. The decision is expected to be made in the next two to three weeks. SAP itself did not want to comment on Thursday, nor did Aleph Alpha founder Jonas Andrulis.

A new quality of artificial intelligence

For months, the ChatGPT software has been keeping the world in suspense. In autumn, Open AI released its revolutionary language model version 3.5 of this "generative AI". The program is significantly more powerful than previous software. The chatbot can write poems or essays and much more.

The software company Microsoft then increased its stake by ten billion dollars and integrated the AI into its Internet search engine Bing. Recently, the language model version GPT4 was introduced, which also works with images. Meanwhile, other tech giants such as Google's parent company Alphabet have also gone public with corresponding competing products.

Experts largely agree that this new quality of artificial intelligence has what it takes to make far-reaching changes, if not upheavals, in the economy and society – for better or for worse. Therefore, on Wednesday, well-known researchers and technology entrepreneurs called in an open letter to interrupt work on such AI systems for at least six months in order to penetrate and evaluate the topic.

For Aleph Alpha founder Andrulis, this is not a sensible measure. Most of the signatories did not work on this AI at all, he told the F.A.Z. It is also questionable whether everyone would really be willing to stop working.

In addition to the opportunities offered by the technology, Andrulis also sees enormous risks. For him, however, the answer lies in the rapid development of our own applications: "We have to design, but reject and regulate will not solve the problem." Due to the dominance of ChatGPT and Microsoft, there are increasing calls for more diversity in the tech scene.

Aleph Alpha successfully closed a financing round of around EUR 2021 million in 23. This increased the number of employees to around 50, set up a fast AI data center in Bayreuth and launched reference projects, for example with the city administration in Heidelberg. But ChatGPT has completely changed the situation.

An entry of SAP would be obvious

"A $20 billion steamroller from Microsoft is rolling towards us," says Andrulis with a view to the almost unlimited financial resources of the Americans. In order not to be completely left behind, the North Baden team will have to raise its next round of financing (Series B) this year. In the room is a sum in the three-digit millions.

It would be obvious for SAP, whose headquarters in Walldorf are just a stone's throw away from Heidelberg, to get involved. In January, SAP CEO Christian Klein told the F.A.Z. that SAP already uses ChatGPT, even for programming. SAP is "a bit of a test lab for new technologies, and if it fits, we will also implement the programs in standard development." At the same time, he was skeptical. Much of what the apps offer, there are already. "What we are experiencing now is the next evolution. In highly complex applications, however, the human factor will not disappear. The knowledge of the industry and its business processes remains with him. I have no concerns about that."

The demonstrative calmness of the SAP boss should not hide the fact that AI could also fundamentally change a company like SAP. In addition to being directly affected, SAP is also simply concerned with fulfilling its role as Europe's largest software company, according to information from the group's environment.

Should Aleph Alpha actually become the nucleus of a European AI company, SAP would be part of it. Financially, the investment would be a piece of cake for SAP. Over the past ten years, the Group has spent more than 30 billion euros on a number of companies. In addition, SAP continues to invest billions in investment funds of its independent venture capital subsidiary, Sapphire Ventures.