OpenAI boss Sam Altman wants to raise trillions of dollars to reorganize the global semiconductor industry, and has spoken with potential investors including the UAE government, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday ( WSJ).
OpenAI participated in
“productive discussions around the development of global infrastructure and supply chains for chips, energy and data centers
,” according to a company spokesperson interviewed by the daily, adding that OpenAi
“will continue to keep the US government informed”
.
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The daily estimates that the total cost of carrying out Sam Altman's project could reach some 7,000 billion dollars.
That's some $1,000 billion more than the combined market value of the two largest companies on the planet, Apple and Microsoft.
Mr. Altman would seek to solve some of the biggest challenges facing the growing artificial intelligence sector, including a shortage of expensive computer chips needed to run large language models like generative artificial intelligence software ChatGPT. of which OpenAI is the owner.
Building factories with funding from the Middle East
According to the WSJ, Mr. Altman met with senior representatives of the United Arab Emirates government as well as the CEO of the Japanese SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, and representatives of the Taiwanese giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Mr. Altman raised the idea of building dozens of chipmaking factories in the coming years with money from Middle East investors, and paying TSMC to build and operate them, according to the media outlet. American.
Many countries have unveiled plans to support chip production on their territory, but the amounts mentioned appear meager compared to the colossal sums that Mr. Altman is discussing with investors according to the WSJ.
The global chip industry is currently dominated by just a few companies, including TSMC and the American NVIDIA.
In recent weeks, Bloomberg and the Financial Times have also reported on meetings led by the Silicon Valley star.
Widely considered a revolution comparable to the advent of the internet, generative AI makes it possible to produce texts, lines of code, images and sounds upon simple request in everyday language.
It also raises serious concerns, particularly regarding democracy and employment.