Background

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is actively seeking trillions of dollars in investments to address the supply and demand problem in the AI chip industry.

Altman acknowledges that the limited availability of AI chips is hindering OpenAI’s growth and the growth of other AI giants. To tackle this issue, he is considering a project that would increase global chip-building capacity.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Altman is in discussions with various investors, including the government of the United Arab Emirates. However, the exact amount of investment required, estimated to be between $5 trillion and $7 trillion, could not be confirmed.

Nvidia’s Dominance

Nvidia is currently the frontrunner in the generative AI market, with its graphics processing units (GPUs) powering the language models developed by OpenAI. It holds about 80% of the AI chip market and has a market cap of approximately $1.72 trillion.

Altman aims to challenge Nvidia’s dominance and expand the options available for AI companies seeking high-performance chips.

OpenAI’s Growth and Success

In November 2022, OpenAI launched its ChatGPT bot, initially with limited resources. The bot quickly gained popularity, becoming the fastest-growing consumer app in history. It now boasts over 100 million weekly active users and counts more than 92% of Fortune 500 companies among its users.

Corporate Changes and Microsoft Partnership

In November, Altman faced a brief removal from OpenAI’s board. This decision resulted in protests from employees, investors, and even Microsoft. Altman was reinstated within a week, and OpenAI has since appointed a new board, including prominent individuals from the tech industry.

Microsoft has obtained a nonvoting board observer position and intends to expand its involvement with OpenAI in the future.