OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly in search of to boost billions for chip fab enterprise

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman is in search of to boost billions of dollars for a brand new chip manufacturing enterprise, Bloomberg reported today.

Reports of the project first emerged last yr. Nonetheless, the scope of the undertaking was unclear. Today’s report indicates that Altman hopes to ascertain the enterprise as a serious player within the semiconductor market with a specific give attention to the lucrative artificial intelligence chip segment. 

In line with Bloomberg, the chief has held fundraising talks with SoftBank Group Corp. and Abu Dhabi-based G42. It’s believed Altman may seek to boost $8 billion to $10 billion from the latter firm alone. The fundraising effort is claimed to be in an early stage.

The vision behind the enterprise is to construct a worldwide network of semiconductor fabs, Bloomberg’s sources detailed. Realizing that vision would likely require the enterprise to boost tens of billions of dollars from investors, if no more. The 2 fabs that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is currently constructing near Phoenix, Arizona are expected to cost $40 billion, while Intel Corp. has allocated €30 billion for the same construction project in Germany.

One reported driver behind the brand new fab enterprise is Altman’s concern that there is probably not enough AI accelerators to fulfill demand. This implies making such chips will likely be a serious focus for the planned fab network.

Demand for essentially the most advanced AI accelerators is already exceeding supply. Last yr, some customers needed to wait greater than six months to receive their orders of Nvidia Corp.’s high-end H100 graphics card. Interest within the chip shows no sign of abating: Meta Platforms Inc. this week announced plans to purchase 350,000 H100s by the top of the yr, which amounts to a few third of last yr’s total estimated supply.

The chip fabs Altman’s enterprise hopes to construct will presumably also make other kinds of processors besides AI accelerators. Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. fabricate a broad range of processors at their semiconductor plants. It’s unclear whether Altman’s enterprise will produce chips using customer-provided designs, sell processors based by itself in-house blueprints or each.

Constructing a fab is a massively complex undertaking that requires not only capital but in addition highly specialized expertise. In line with Bloomberg, Altman’s enterprise may partner with established chipmakers to assist construct its manufacturing infrastructure. Intel, TSMC and Samsung were floated as potential partners.

There are some existing examples of fab operators teaming up on manufacturing projects. Last yr, Tower Semiconductor Ltd. inked a deal to maneuver as much as $300 million value of chipmaking equipment into an Intel fab in Latest Mexico. That equipment will likely be used to make semiconductors for the previous company’s customers.

For Altman’s enterprise, establishing partnerships with established chipmakers may prove difficult in certain respects. If the startup moves into the AI accelerator market, it could find itself competing with Intel, a possible partner that provides its own line of AI accelerators. TSMC and Samsung, in turn, make AI accelerators based on customer-provided designs.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s top backer, has reportedly expressed interest in Altman’s enterprise. The cloud computing and software giant recently debuted an internally developed AI accelerator called the Maia 100. In the long run, Microsoft could potentially partner with Altman’s enterprise to fabricate its custom chips. 

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