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Artificial intelligence
TechTech Trends

ChatGPT CEO Altman wants to raise billions of dollars to build AI chip factories, sources say

  • Altman is concerned that as AI becomes more pervasive, there will not be enough chips for widespread deployment
  • The talks with Abu Dhabi AI firm G42 alone had focused on raising US$8 billion to US$10 billion, sources say

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last week. Photo: AFP
Bloomberg
OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman, who has been working to raise billions of dollars from global investors for a chip venture, aims to use the funds to set up a network of factories to manufacture semiconductors, according to several people with knowledge of the plans.
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Altman has had conversations with several large potential investors in the hopes of raising the vast sums needed for chip-fabrication plants, or fabs, as they are known colloquially, said the people, who requested anonymity because the conversations are private.

Firms that have held discussions with Altman include Abu Dhabi-based G42, people told Bloomberg last month, and SoftBank Group, some of the people said. The project would involve working with top chip manufacturers, and the network of fabs would be global in scope, some of the people said.

While efforts to raise funds for a chip venture were earlier reported by Bloomberg, the scope of the project and the focus on manufacturing was not previously known. The talks are still early and a full list of involved partners and funders has not been established, the people said.

Altman’s fundraising push reflects his concern that as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more pervasive, there will not be enough chips for widespread deployment, some of the people said. Some current forecasts for production of AI-related chips fall short of projected demand.

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Building and maintaining fabs is far more expensive than the approach favoured by many of OpenAI’s AI industry peers. Amazon.com, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft – OpenAI’s largest investor – typically focus on designing their own custom silicon and then farm out manufacturing to outside suppliers.

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