OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly looking to raise a massive $7 trillion from investors, including the United Arab Emirates government, in an effort to significantly ramp up the production of advanced chips essential for artificial intelligence (AI) development. The Wall Street Journal reported that the ambitious proposal aims to tackle the challenging shortage of powerful chips currently faced by the AI industry.
The vast investment would be used to build numerous chip foundries which would then be operated by already-existing semiconductor manufacturers like Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The initiative is designed to ensure that AI technologies, such as OpenAI’s own ChatGPT, have enough resources to expand and improve.
Although raising such an extraordinary sum might seem an unattainable goal, Altman has already begun talks with key figures globally, further underlining the universal interest in promoting semiconductor production which is presently managed by a small number of major players. Participants in these discussions include high-ranking officials from the UAE, TSMC executives, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
Altman’s scheme signifies a move to break up and encourage the production capacity crucial for the progression of AI technologies, notwithstanding the worldwide dominance of companies like NVIDIA and TSMC in chip manufacturing. A spokesperson for OpenAI stated that the firm has engaged in productive dialogues aimed at enhancing global infrastructure and supply chains in this area, with more information to come later.
At just 38, Altman has emerged as a leading light in the AI sector, having guided OpenAI through important achievements and hurdles, even briefly leaving the company he helped establish. His existing venture stands to revolutionize the future of AI, potentially making it one of the most significant technological undertakings of the contemporary era.
