OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, who has been working to raise billions of dollars from global investors for a chip venture, aims to use the funds to set up a network of factories to manufacture semiconductors, according to several people with knowledge of the plans.
Altman has had conversations with several large potential investors in the hopes of raising the vast sums needed for chip fabrication plants, or fabs, as they’re known colloquially, said the people, who requested anonymity because the conversations are private.
Firms that have held discussions with Altman include Abu Dhabi-based G42, people told Bloomberg last month, and SoftBank Group, some of the people said. The project would involve working with top chip manufacturers, and the network of fabs would be global in scope, some of the people said.