OpenAI is in talks with chip designers including Broadcom to develop AI server chips, and has reportedly hired a former Google TPU designer

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OpenAI is reportedly in talks with semiconductor design companies, notably Broadcom, to develop new chips. The move is part of OpenAI's efforts to reduce its reliance on NVIDIA and strengthen its supply chain, with the aim of boosting supplies of the parts and infrastructure needed to run its AI models.

OpenAI Has Talked to Broadcom About Developing New AI Chip — The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-has-talked-to-broadcom-about-developing-new-ai-chip

OpenAI and Broadcom in talks about developing new AI chip
https://www.ft.com/content/496a0c33-1af3-4dbf-977f-04d6804a8d28

Broadcom (AVGO) Shares Gain on Report That It's Discussing Chip With OpenAI - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-18/broadcom-gains-on-report-that-it-s-discussing-chip-with-openai

OpenAI is a software development company, but in order to run AI, not only software but also high-performance hardware is required. At the time of writing, NVIDIA holds most of the market share for AI semiconductors, and in particular, it is known that it has a monopoly of 98% of the GPU market for data centers.

It turns out that NVIDIA has a 98% share of the data center GPU market, and AI performance is the deciding factor - GIGAZINE

OpenAI's efforts to break away from NVIDIA are led by CEO Sam Altman and aim to work with chipmakers, partners such as Microsoft, government agencies, and investors to boost AI computing power, but talks with Broadcom are still in the early stages and OpenAI is continuing to talk to the industry as a whole.

In addition, according to financial media outlet Bloomberg, OpenAI is also hiring former Google engineers who were involved in the development of the Tensor processor found in the Pixel series.

In response to an interview with the financial media Financial Times, OpenAI said, 'We are in ongoing discussions with leading chip designers, manufacturers, brick-and-mortar data center developers and others about increasing access to the infrastructure needed to make the benefits of AI widely available.' Broadcom, meanwhile, did not respond to a request for comment.

It is said that chip performance and power supply are limiting factors in the development of AI, and OpenAI is actively trying to address this issue. CEO Altman is already planning to raise hundreds of trillions of yen to expand semiconductor production capacity worldwide, and is reportedly in discussions with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and UAE National Security Advisor Tahnoon bin Zayed.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to raise hundreds of trillions of yen in funding to 'rebuild the semiconductor industry'; it has been reported that he has already met with Masayoshi Son and influential figures in the UAE - GIGAZINE

OpenAI is trying to increase its autonomy in various ways to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) that exceeds human cognitive capabilities, but at this point in time, OpenAI needs huge funding to catch up with NVIDIA's technological capabilities. It is unclear whether the $13 billion investment from Microsoft (about 2 trillion yen) will be enough, and further external funding and commercial partnerships are expected to be necessary.