Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Aims to Secure Billions in Funding for AI Chipset Development

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to use the billions of dollars he’s trying to raise for the chip project to set up a network of semiconductor factories, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the plans.

According to the report, Altman has been in talks with several major potential investors in hopes of raising the huge sums needed for the chip manufacturing facilities, colloquially known as fabs.

The project would involve working with top chip manufacturers and the network of factories would be global, according to the report.

Manufacturing chips is expensive. They also require large amounts of natural resources in addition to billions of dollars in funding. Costs have risen over the years as the technology to make the chips used in artificial intelligence applications has improved.

Abu Dhabi-based G42 and Japan’s SoftBank Group are among the companies that have held talks with the OpenAI boss, but talks are still in the early stages and a full list of partners and funders involved has not been drawn up, according to the report.

Talks with G42, which the ChatGPT maker partnered with in October of last year, were solely focused on raising the $8 billion to $10 billion, though the current status of the talks is unclear, according to the report.

Intel, Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics are potential partners for OpenAI, the report added.

OpenAI, SoftBank, Intel, TSMC, G42 and Samsung did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Altman returned to OpenAI in November after a surprise departure that had sent shockwaves through the tech industry.

According to a Bloomberg report, he had been working hard on the chip project until he was temporarily ousted, and when he returned, he restarted the effort. He has also told Microsoft about the plan, and the software giant is interested, the report added.