Visa unveils $100m initiative to drive generative AI in commerce, payment

By Cynthia Ezekwe.

Global payment giant Visa has unveiled a $100 million initiative to drive the next wave of generative AI (Gen AI) innovation within the realm of commerce and payments to reshape the future of how transactions are conducted.

Visa’s bold initiative stands as a testament to the limitless possibilities in the ever-evolving landscape of commerce and payments, as the world becomes increasingly interconnected and reliant on AI.

According to the Generative AI website, GenAI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create a wide variety of data, such as images, videos, audio, text, and 3D models. It does this by learning patterns from existing data, then using this knowledge to generate new and unique outputs. The innovation is capable of producing highly realistic and complex content that mimics human creativity, making it a valuable tool for many industries to grow exponentially.

To this end, Visa’s $100 million  initiative, led by Visa Ventures, the corporate investment arm, is set to usher in a new era of artificial general intelligence, that will enhance commerce and payments globally, and make the process hassle-free.

Commenting on the initiative, Jack Forestell,  Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, spoke passionately about the transformative potential of generative AI, stating, “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.”

David Rolf, head of Visa Ventures, 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.”