According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Friday, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is discussing raising funds for an extremely ambitious tech initiative with investors.
The report states that Altman is talking with investors, including the United Arab Emirates government.
The initiative aims to increase the world's chip-building capacity, expand its ability to power artificial intelligence, and undertake several other things, with the cost expected to be several trillion dollars. The WSJ said its sources told them the project could require raising as much as $5 trillion to $7 trillion.
The plans are said to be aimed at solving constraints to OpenAI’s growth, although the WSJ notes they face significant hurdles, especially as the sum being spoken about is enormous and would dwarf the current size of the global semiconductor industry.
The report states that Altman's new fundraising plans will take energy consumption into account, as AI facilities require enormous amounts of electricity.
An OpenAI spokeswoman told the WSJ that the company has "had productive discussions about increasing global infrastructure and supply chains for chips, energy and data centers."