☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

Sam Altman’s chip ambitions

January 23, 2024
Scott Nover
​Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, attends the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2024.

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
OpenAI chief Sam Altman is raising billions of dollars for a global network of semiconductor fabrication plants. He wants his firm to make high-powered computer chips itself.

The chipmaking process is notoriously difficult and expensive. AI developers like OpenAI depend on powerful chips from firms like NVIDIA and AMD. Fabrication often runs through Taiwan Semiconductor or the Korean-based Samsung, the two biggest companies by market share.

With this new venture, known by the code name Tigris, Altman wants to add another major player in the chipmaking process, which has been prone to bottlenecking in recent years. The global supply chain crisis coincided with a global chip shortage, leading to low supplies of appliances, computers, cars, and video game systems. Altman is in talks to raise funds from global players including Japan’s SoftBank and the UAE’s G42, promising to make its network of fabs global in scope.

For generative AI developers, they need the most powerful chips on the market — and they need as many as they can get.

More from GZERO Media

Microsoft's 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report

Microsoft

This summer, Microsoft released the 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating Microsoft’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.

Brazil sentences Bolsonaro: What it means for democracy and US-Brazil relations

- YouTube

youtu.be

Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for plotting to overturn the 2022 election and allegedly conspiring to assassinate President Lula. In this week's "ask ian," Ian Bremmer says the verdict highlights how “your response… has nothing to do with rule of law. It has everything to do with tribal political affiliation.”

Is democracy doomed in Turkey?

Supporters of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) attend a rally to protest against the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan, a day after the removal of the CHP's Istanbul provincial head Ozgur Celik by a court over alleged irregularities in a 2023 CHP provincial congress, in Istanbul, Turkey, September 3, 2025.
REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

After a weekend of mass protests in Turkey, a court in Ankara has postponed its decision in a highly charged case that could oust Turkey’s main opposition leader – and boost the fortunes of long-time President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.