OpenAI could change PCs forever by making them 'multiplayer'

The company behind the immensely popular AI-powered tool ChatGPT has announced it's acquiring a startup company called Multi.

The latest acquisition by OpenAI could be a clue to what features its AI systems will be adopting in the future. What makes Multi so special? According to a statement on the company's blog, Multi is a company that works on advanced screensharing and collaboration tools, which are specifically designed for software engineers. The tool enables screensharing with up to 10 people, and shared cursors.

While this tool may seem useful for a very niche number of people, combining the technology with the power of OpenAI's systems could provide a new way for humans to interact with desktop PCs. Multi's goal, as outlined in its blog post, was to make desktop PCs "inherently multiplayer", and set out to achieve this by asking themselves "how we should work with computers. Not on or using computers, but truly with computers."

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Multi's technology combined with AI would give OpenAI's ChatGPT desktop app remote access to a user's desktop, enabling the AI to see and draw on the user's screen, edit code, etc. This isn't the first time we have heard of an AI getting its "eyes" onto the screens of desktop PCs, as Microsoft recently faced immense backlash for its AI-powered Windows Recall feature that was slated to hit the recently launched Copilot+ PCs until rampant privacy and security concerns were voiced.

Additionally, Apple recently announced similar technology headed to its Mac lineup in the form of Apple Intelligence. With the market shifting toward AI being injected into seemingly all forms of computers, it makes sense that OpenAI wants to get in on the action. However, getting around privacy concerns from the public will certainly be a logistical and cultural hurdle to overcome.