FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Software manufacturer SAP is considering an investment in Heidelberg-based AI start-up Aleph Alpha, according to a press report. The decision is likely to be made in the next two to three weeks, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" (Friday edition) reported, citing information from sources close to the company. SAP wants to participate in the second round of financing now underway, the talk is of an amount below 100 million euros. When asked, the Walldorf-based company would not comment on this, nor would Aleph Alpha founder Jonas Andrulis.

The company, founded in 2019 by the former Apple manager, is considered one of the biggest hopefuls for an independent European "artificial intelligence," it added. According to the company, the "Luminous" program can compete with ChatGPT from market leader Open AI. The results of a standardized performance comparison published in February had shown this.

Aleph Alpha had successfully completed a funding round of around €23 million in 2021, according to the report. This had been used to increase the number of employees to around 50, build a fast AI data center in Bayreuth and launch reference projects./he