Source: AFP
OpenAI chief Sam Altman is seeking to raise trillions of dollars to reshape the global semiconductor industry and is in talks with potential investors, including the UAE government, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Altman is reportedly seeking to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the fast-growing field of artificial intelligence — including the lack of the expensive computer chips needed to power large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The global chip industry is currently dominated by just a few companies, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and US-based NVIDIA.
While many countries have unveiled plans to support domestic chip production, the financial support they have offered pales in comparison to the huge sums of money Altman is reportedly discussing with investors.
The Journal estimated that the total cost of implementing Altman’s project could reach $7 trillion.
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That’s about a trillion dollars more than the market value of the world’s two largest public companies — Apple and Microsoft — combined.
An OpenAI spokesperson told the Journal that the company has had “productive discussions about growing global infrastructure and supply chains for chips, power and data centers.”
They added that they “will continue to inform the US government given the importance of national priorities.”
Altman held meetings with senior government officials from the United Arab Emirates, as well as SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and TSMC representatives, according to the newspaper.
Both Bloomberg and the Financial Times have also reported on some of Altman’s meetings in recent weeks.
Altman has floated the idea of building dozens of chip factories over the next few years with money from Middle Eastern investors and then paying TSMC to build and operate them, the Journal reported.
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![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/e2f659677535941f.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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After rising to prominence following the widespread release of ChatGPT, Altman’s fortunes have faltered in recent months.
He was briefly fired from his position at the AI firm in November, only to be rehired days later after staff and investors revolted.
Source: AFP