OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is making waves with his “wildly ambitious” plans to raise trillions of dollars from investors, including the United Arab Emirates government, in order to revolutionize the world’s ability to produce advanced chips and boost artificial intelligence. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Altman’s initiative could require raising up to $7 trillion – a sum that is “strangely large by corporate fundraising standards.”

The proposed plans include building dozens of chip foundries that would be run by existing chip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). This move aims to address the shortage of chips that power AI models like ChatGPT, which has been a major obstacle for OpenAI’s growth.

Altman has been actively engaging with senior UAE officials, TSMC executives, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son as part of his efforts to secure funding for this ambitious project. The report also highlighted that while several countries have announced plans to support domestic semiconductor production, global supply is still dominated by a handful of companies.

An OpenAI spokesperson mentioned that the organization has had “productive discussions about scaling up global infrastructure and supply chains” and promised to share more details at a later date. However, there was no immediate response from OpenAI when Al Jazeera reached out for comment.

Sam Altman, who was fired from the startup he co-founded in November but reinstated shortly after due to protests from employees and investors, has become one of the most prominent figures in the field of AI.

This news sheds light on the increasing importance of advanced chip production in powering artificial intelligence technologies. It also underscores the growing interest and investment in AI development from both public and private sectors around the world.

For more information on this topic, you can read the full article on Al Jazeera’s website here.