OpenAI’s Altman in talks to raise funds for chips, AI initiative

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, Jan 18, 2024. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File photo

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in talks with investors, including the UAE, to raise funds for a tech initiative to boost the world’s chip-building capacity and expand its ability to power AI, among other things, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The project could require raising as much as $5 trillion to $7 trillion, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

OpenAI and its biggest investor Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

READ: OpenAI reinstates Sam Altman as CEO after his tumultuous ouster

Altman’s fundraising plans are aimed at solving constraints to OpenAI’s growth, including the scarcity of artificial intelligence (AI) chips required to train large language models behind systems such as ChatGPT, the WSJ reported.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has forecast a 13.1-percent jump in global chip sales to $595.3 billion this year, compared with a drop of about 8 percent in sales in 2023.

READ: Global chip sales forecast to jump 13% in 2024 —industry group

The amounts Altman has discussed are outlandishly large by the standards of corporate fundraising, the report added.

Investors have valued OpenAI at more than $80 billion.

As part of the talks, Altman is pitching a partnership between OpenAI, investors, chip makers and power providers, which together would put up money to build chip foundries that would then be run by chip makers, the report said, adding that much of the effort could be funded by debt and the discussions are in its early stages.