Visa, the global leader in digital payments, announced today a new $100 million investment fund focused exclusively on generative artificial intelligence startups. This marks one of the largest commitments yet from a major financial services company to develop and integrate cutting-edge generative AI technologies into payments and commerce.
Dubbed the GenAI fund, Visa aims to identify and nurture early-stage startups that are leveraging technology like large language models to create applications that could reshape finance and commerce. The fund will be operated by Visa Ventures, the company's 16-year-old venture capital arm.
"While much of generative AI so far has been focused on tasks and content creation, this technology will soon not only reshape how we live and work, but it will also meaningfully change commerce in ways we need to understand," said Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Visa, in a statement.
As a pioneer in AI infrastructure for payments since the 1990s, Visa believes it is well-positioned to help guide the responsible development of generative AI specifically for financial services. Potential applications could include chatbots providing personalized customer support, real-time fraud prevention, and transaction analysis.
David Rolf, Head of Visa Ventures, said generative AI has the potential to be "one of the most transformative technologies of our time." Identifying promising startups early allows Visa to collaborate on developing innovations that benefit consumers and the wider payments ecosystem.
The GenAI fund will complement Visa's existing investments in next-generation payments technologies like digital currencies and open banking. As consumer expectations evolve, Visa aims to support the responsible development of AI to keep global commerce accessible, reliable and secure.