Visa (NYSE: V), a global firm focused on payments, announced a new $100 million generative AI ventures initiative in order “to invest in the next generation of companies focused on developing generative AI technologies and applications that will impact the future of commerce and payments.”
As a key player focused on AI use in payments since 1993, Visa considers this initiative “an extension of Visa’s leadership in using AI to drive innovation in payments, create value for partners and clients, and enable and empower global commerce.”
Generative AI is described as “an emerging subset of AI that is built on Large Language Models (LLMs) to develop artificial general intelligence capable of generating text, images or other content from large sets of existing data when given prompts.”
Jack Forestell, Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Visa Inc., said:
“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.”
This initiative will be led “by Visa Ventures, the global corporate investment arm of Visa. Visa Ventures has been investing in and partnering with companies driving innovation in payments and commerce since 2007.”
David Rolf, Head of Visa Ventures, Visa Inc., said:
“With generative AI’s potential to be one of the most transformative technologies of our time, we are excited to expand our focus to invest in some of the most innovative and disruptive venture-backed startups building across generative AI, commerce and payments.”
As noted in the update, Visa claims it is “a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories.”
Their mission is to connect the world “through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.”
They believe that economies “that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement.”
