OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman Explores AI Chip Manufacturing Venture with TSMC and Middle Eastern Investors
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is engaging in extensive discussions with chip manufacturers, led by the Taiwanese company TSMC, to work on a project for producing artificial intelligence chips.
According to a new report by the British newspaper Financial Times, OpenAI is exploring funding opportunities for this ambitious project with a group of major investors in the Middle East, including Abu Dhabi’s Investment Authority, the International Holding Company (ADQ), and G42, an AI-focused company.
The report, citing informed sources, states that the talks aim to establish an independent company for building AI chips, with OpenAI as its largest customer.
TSMC, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, does not design chips but produces them for other companies like Intel, Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm, etc., based on their designs, therefore, the potential partnership between OpenAI and TSMC would follow the same terms as those with other companies.
Both OpenAI and TSMC declined to comment on this latest report. OpenAI’s future project aims to design and produce AI chips, a highly expensive process that could reduce its dependence on Nvidia, currently leading in this type of chip production.
If successful, this project could enable OpenAI to compete with Nvidia in the future, especially with the increasing global demand for AI chips.
These chips are fundamental for developing and operating AI systems, and the pace of advancement in this field depends on the efficiency of these chips and their availability in large quantities.
Therefore, major companies in AI are planning to secure their needs independently of the chip-producing companies and to overcome potential shortages or supply chain disruptions.
It is worth noting that OpenAI is currently working on a new version of its AI model, which will be introduced later this year as a major upgrade to the current GPT-4 model, thereby increasing its need for more AI chips.
