Sam Altman wanted 36 new chip factories from TSMC and others
The OpenAI boss wanted to get not only investors but also chip manufacturers on board for his global AI initiative. This also failed because of politics.
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At the end of 2023, Sam Altman, founder and CEO of OpenAI, embarked on a long journey to promote the construction of new chip factories. These were to be used exclusively to produce AI accelerators. Until now, it was only known that Altman wanted to raise a total of 7 trillion US dollars from various investors. According to a new report, however, he also approached the leading chip manufacturers and was rather brusquely rebuffed.
As the New York Times describes, Altman was described as a "podcast bro" at TSMC and was apparently not taken seriously. As soon as the first details of his lofty plans became known, many people began to wonder whether he really meant the US English expression "7 trillion", which is "Billionen" in German, or whether it was the common confusion of "billion", which translates as "Milliarden". In fact, Altman was trying for seven trillion US dollars.
Arab investors, and chip factories right there
As reported by other agencies such as Bloomberg and Reuters, he wanted to raise these from numerous investors inside and outside the tech industry. According to the New York Times, he was also in talks with Arab consortia. Nine people, who requested anonymity, are said to have confirmed this and other details to the newspaper. According to this, Altmann wanted to persuade TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix, among others, to build a total of 36 chip factories, including in the Middle East.
However, this was then prevented not only by the chip manufacturers but also by the US government. Many AI technologies are subject to export restrictions. Chip factories in the Arab world in particular are said to have been undesirable, partly due to fears of stronger Chinese influence there. According to the NYT report, Altmann wanted to use investments from the United Arab Emirates to build semiconductor plants in the Middle East as well. In the meantime, the strategy has also changed under the influence of the USA: AI chip factories are to be built in the United States first.
OpenAI denies that its own financing round will soon be completed
A spokeswoman for OpenAI, quoted verbatim by the Times, denied the trillion-euro plans. According to her, the company has never pursued investment plans in the trillions. At most, this could be the amount needed over several decades.
OpenAI's plans, which have now been revealed in detail, should be seen separately from a new round of financing for the company's existing operations. According to other reports, the company is set to close this round as early as next week with 6.5 billion (not trillion) US dollars. OpenAI is also expected to abandon its current partial non-profit model as part of these new investments.
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