Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, aims to increase worldwide production of AI chipsets and is actively seeking substantial investment.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in talks with investors, including the United Arab Emirates, to raise funding for a technology initiative that will boost the world’s chip-building capacity and expand its ability to use artificial intelligence, among other things, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The project could require as much as $5 trillion to $7 trillion, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.
OpenAI and its largest investor, Microsoft, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Altman’s fundraising plans aim to address constraints to OpenAI’s growth, including the scarcity of AI chips needed to train the large language models behind systems like ChatGPT, the WSJ reported.
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has forecast a 13.1 percent increase in global chip sales to $595.3 billion this year, compared to a decline of about 8 percent in 2023.
The amounts discussed by Altman are unusually large by corporate fundraising standards, the report added.
Investors have valued OpenAI at more than $80 billion.
As part of the talks, Altman envisions a partnership between OpenAI, investors, chipmakers and power producers that would jointly invest money to build chip foundries that the chipmakers would continue to build, the report said, adding that much of the effort could be financed with debt, and that discussions are only in the early stages.
