Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, aims to secure billions in funding for the establishment of a network of AI chip factories.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is seeking to secure billions of dollars from international investors for a chip project. Altman intends to utilize these funds to establish a series of factories dedicated to the production of semiconductors.

Altman has been in talks with several major potential investors in hopes of raising the huge sums needed to build chip factories, or fabs, as they are colloquially known, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Companies in talks with Altman include Abu Dhabi-based G42, the people told Bloomberg last month, and SoftBank Group Corp., some said. The project would involve collaboration with top chipmakers, and the network of factories would be global in scope, some said.

While Bloomberg previously reported efforts to raise funds for the chip project, the project’s scope and focus on manufacturing were previously unknown. Talks are still in the early stages, and a full list of participating partners and financiers has not been drawn up, the people said.

Altman’s fundraising reflects his concern that as artificial intelligence becomes more common, there won’t be enough chips for widespread adoption, some said. Some current forecasts for the production of AI-related chips fall short of projected demand.

Building and maintaining semiconductor manufacturing facilities is much more expensive than the approach favored by many of OpenAI’s peers in the AI industry. Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google Microsoft Corp. — the biggest investor in OpenAI — typically focuses on designing its own custom silicon and then farms out its production to outside companies.

Building a single state-of-the-art manufacturing facility can cost tens of billions of dollars, and creating a network of such facilities would take years. Talks with the G42 alone had focused on raising the $8 billion to $10 billion, the people previously told Bloomberg, though the current status of the talks is unclear.

Altman believes the industry needs to act now to ensure there is enough supply by the end of the decade, according to people familiar with his thinking. Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT over a year ago, interest in AI applications has skyrocketed among businesses and consumers. This, in turn, has created a huge demand for the computing power and processors needed to build and run these AI programs. Altman has repeatedly said that there are already not enough chips for his company’s needs.

Intel Corp., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. lead the chip manufacturing market and are potential partners for OpenAI.

Altman had been working hard on the chip project until he was temporarily ousted as CEO of OpenAI in November. On his return, he restarted the effort. Altman has also heard about Microsoft’s plan, and the software giant is interested, according to two people.

OpenAI, G42, Intel, Microsoft, SoftBank and TSMC declined to comment. Samsung officials were not immediately available for comment.

The G42, which focuses on artificial intelligence, has been at the center of calls from the US legislature this month for increased surveillance and trade restrictions.

House China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wisconsin, expressed concern about the G42’s relationship with blacklisted Chinese companies such as Huawei Technologies Co and the Beijing Genomics Institute, as well as the risks to research at US universities. Gallagher called on Commerce Minister Gina Raimondo to consider sanctions against the G42 group and 13 of its subsidiaries and affiliates.

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