According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, is undertaking an effort to raise a tremendous amount of money for a project focused on expanding the global production of chips used in the artificial intelligence industry, intending to compete with Nvidia. The project aims to help meet the growth demand for AI-based technologies, which are currently experiencing a shortage of suitable chips. Sam Altman has long discussed this need and the existing difficulties in the market. He is now in the process of seeking investors, including the government of the United Arab Emirates, to raise between 5 to 7 trillion dollars for the project. Although OpenAI has not given an official response to these reports, they seem poised to present a project focused on expanding the manufacturing capabilities of the necessary chips for AI systems.

The world needs to expand the infrastructure of artificial intelligence beyond what has been built so far. Constructing this infrastructure on a large and sustainable scale is vital for economic competitiveness. OpenAI intends to be part of this process and support the development of more advanced AI infrastructure.

Just before being pushed out from a management crisis, the leadership of OpenAI tried to draw billions of dollars for a new project focused on building chips for artificial intelligence named “Tigris.” The goal is to compete in the industry, especially to challenge Nvidia’s market definition. One report mentions that they even traveled to the Middle East to raise financial support from potential investors for this project.

In 2018, the leadership of OpenAI personally invested in a small startup called Rain Neuromorphic, focusing on the development of chips for artificial intelligence. OpenAI itself signed an agreement in 2019 to invest 51 million dollars in Rain’s chips. However, by the end of the year, a venture capital fund supporting the Saudi sovereign wealth fund decided to sell its shares in Rain.

Nvidia currently leads the industry with about 80% of the artificial intelligence market, having a market value of approximately 1.72 trillion dollars. Altman apparently intends to change the role and turn OpenAI into a competitive player against tech giants such as Amazon and Alphabet.