OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is making trips around the globe to seek funding

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has embarked on a global supply-chain and fundraising campaign to boost his company’s computing capacity. Since late September, the OpenAI executive has sought alternative long-term low-cost supplies for his company’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. 

Altman is looking to the Middle East and East Asia to finance the accelerated build-out of his company’s infrastructure. He has so far visited South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan and has met with representatives from Foxconn, TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung. 

Altman previously claimed that his $850 billion OpenAI expansion plan is valid, as reported by Cryptopolitan. He acknowledged that people are worried about his company’s expansion, but emphasized that he is not backing down from the plans.

The OpenAI boss said the biggest issue is not chips or money but power. Altman recently led a $500M funding round for fusion firm Helion Energy and helped fission startup Oklo go public through his SPAC. 

Altman plans to visit the UAE for more AI infrastructure and research funds

The tech billionaire has planned a visit to the UAE, where he will meet investors. However, previous discussions are still in the early stages. Altman is encouraging these companies to increase production capacity and prioritize orders from OpenAI. 

Altman’s planned trip to the UAE echoes his 2024 effort to pitch a $7 trillion infrastructure plan to the same companies he hopes to get funds from in the region. However, some industry leaders dismissed his previous effort as unrealistic, given the limited revenue generated by AI services at the time. 

Shortly after the 2024 UAE trip, TSMC’s CEO, C.C. Wei, said that Altman was too aggressive, but now believes the OpenAI boss will garner more support this time. There is a renewed confidence in OpenAI following its deal with Nvidia, in which Nvidia agreed to invest up to $100 billion to lease 5 million AI chips over time to OpenAI. 

Altman has recently rubbed shoulders with tech leaders from Hitachi, and the announcement of their partnership has boosted the shares of both companies. During his Middle East stop, the OpenAI boss plans to meet with representatives from Abu Dhabi’s investment funds, Mubadala and MGX. He will also meet with representatives from operations partner G42, and the potential new capital will partly fund the Abu Dhabi Stargate data center. 

OpenAI sets aside $16B to rent computing servers

Sam Altman pledged to spend roughly $16 billion this year and up to $400 billion by 2029 on renting computing servers. Altman claimed that the computing supply chain is facing manufacturing bottlenecks as his company seeks to meet growing global demand. 

Altman’s OpenAI has also partnered with South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung as memory chip suppliers. The ChatGPT maker plans to co-develop AI data centers in South Korea with both companies, as it projects a monthly demand of up to 900K wafers. 

OpenAI has a deal with the Japanese firm Hitachi to help develop its AI infrastructure and provide power transmission and distribution equipment to its data centers. The company will, in turn, provide Hitachi with its models and other technologies.   

OpenAI revived global enthusiasm this past week after releasing its video-generating model, Sora 2, on September 30. The AI firm also agreed with Nvidia to deploy at least 10 GW of Nvidia’s computing systems to train and run the next generation of OpenAI’s models.

Last month, OpenAI announced five new data center sites across the U.S., which it plans to build in collaboration with Oracle and Japan’s SofBank. Samsung and SK Hynix also signed letters of intent earlier this week to supply OpenAI with memory chips for its data centers. 

Three years after launching ChatGPT, OpenAI is valued at $ 500 billion, on par with ExxonMobil and Netflix. The company will also be among the first to receive Nvidia’s Rubin system in H2 2026.

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