Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is reportedly seeking up to $7 trillion in funding to revolutionize the global semiconductor industry, according to The Wall Street Journal. Addressing the acute shortage of AI chips, which hampers the growth of major AI players including OpenAI, Altman envisions a project to significantly expand the world's capacity to produce these chips. Discussions are underway with various investors, including the government of the United Arab Emirates, to secure the monumental investment needed for this initiative.

Altman highlighted on X the critical need for more AI infrastructure worldwide, underscoring the importance of building large-scale AI infrastructure and a robust supply chain for OpenAI's economic competitiveness and the broader AI industry.

This ambitious plan follows controversies surrounding Altman's previous ventures in the semiconductor space. Before a temporary removal from his CEO position at OpenAI, Altman had been seeking funding for a secretive chip project named “Tigris,” aimed at rivaling Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market.

Nvidia, whose GPUs power the large language models of OpenAI and other tech giants, has seen its market value surge, holding approximately 80% of the AI chip market. Altman's initiative could potentially challenge Nvidia's stronghold in this rapidly growing sector.