OpenAI, the company behind the viral AI chatbot ChatGPT, has acquired Global Illumination, a New York-based startup that uses AI to develop creative tools, infrastructure, and digital experiences. This is the first acquisition for OpenAI in its nearly seven years of existence, and the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are pretty excited about the influence they'll make here at OpenAI," OpenAI posted on its official blog briefly. "The entire team has joined OpenAI to work on our core products, which include ChatGPT."

Global Illumination was founded by Thomas Dimson, Taylor Gordon and Joey Flynn in 2021. Paradigm, Benchmark, Slow back the team whose designed and built early products at Instagram and Facebook as well as YouTube, Google, Pixar and Riot Games.

While working in the capacity of engineering director at Instagram, Dimson contributed to the iterative work of the discovery algorithm that the company works on. Some other projects he's led in establishing include those teams handling Experience of Explore tab for Instagram, ranking feed and Stories, IGTV, and data engineering as a general concern.

The latest game by Global Illumination is Biomes: an open-source Minecraft-like sandbox multiplayer online role-playing game, built for the web. There's no known future to this game, but you could imagine the team at OpenAI's work wouldn't have much of an entertainment bias.

OpenAI may have avoided acquisitions until now, but the company, with billions in venture capital from Microsoft and other major players, has for several years run funds and grant programs to invest in emerging AI companies and organizations.

OpenAI is definitely not eyeing commercial success. And while ChatGPT virally exploded worldwide, "it cost OpenAI well over $540 million" last year, with which "it also splurged to poach talent" even from the likes of Google, The Information states.

OpenAI raked in $30 million in revenue last year, but CEO Sam Altman has reportedly told investors that the company intends to boost that figure to $200 million this year and $1 billion next year.