According to WSJ, Altman has discussed a “very ambitious” plan with investors, including the United Arab Emirates government.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has secured trillions of dollars from investors, including the United Arab Emirates government, to increase the world's capacity to make advanced chips and power artificial intelligence. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is looking to raise funds.
The Journal reported Thursday that Altman's “very ambitious technology vision” could require raising as much as $7 trillion, citing people familiar with the matter.
As part of his pitch to investors, Altman proposed building dozens of chip foundries run by established chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the paper said.
According to WSJ, the plan is aimed at solving obstacles to OpenAI's growth, such as a lack of chips to power AI models such as ChatGPT, and the amount sought is “low by company funding standards. “It's extraordinarily large.”
Altamun's plan has so far included meetings with senior UAE officials, TSMC executives, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, according to reports.
Although many countries have announced plans to support domestic semiconductor production, global supply remains dominated by a few companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and California-based NVIDIA.
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company had “productive discussions about expanding its global infrastructure and supply chain” and would share more details at a later date, WSJ reported.
OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from Al Jazeera.
At the helm of OpenAI, Altman has become one of the best-known figures in the burgeoning field of AI.
In November, the 38-year-old entrepreneur was fired from the startup he co-founded, but was reinstated days later after an outcry from employees and investors.
