OpenAI, under the leadership of Sam Altman, is reportedly in deep discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to initiate its own semiconductor manufacturing.
OpenAI’s exploration into semiconductor production aligns it with leading tech giants Apple, AMD, Qualcomm, and NVIDIA, all of whom are key clients of TSMC. TSMC’s global standing in chip manufacturing is unparalleled, with a commanding 59% market share, outpacing competitors like Samsung, Intel, UMC, and GlobalFoundries. This partnership could leverage TSMC’s advanced capabilities, including their 3 nm chip production and the revolutionary N7+ technology, the industry’s first extreme ultraviolet lithographic process.
The Financial Times reports that Sam Altman is actively engaging with major investors in the Middle East to finance this ambitious chip factory project. Among the notable figures is Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s National Security Advisor and one of the wealthiest individuals globally.
OpenAI’s primary motivation behind this move appears to be reducing its reliance on NVIDIA, which currently dominates the AI chip market with a 95% share. By designing and manufacturing its own AI chips, OpenAI aims to address the ongoing semiconductor shortage that frequently hampers its operations.
This trend isn’t unique to OpenAI. Other major players in the AI space, like Amazon and Google, have already started manufacturing their own AI chips. Microsoft, in collaboration with AMD, is also making strides in this direction.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is also ramping up its efforts in Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Meta plans to deploy 600,000 NVIDIA H100 graphics cards by the end of 2024, emphasizing the growing demand for advanced AI hardware.
