OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Seeking Global Support for AI Infrastructure

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is reportedly meeting with government and industry officials in several countries in an effort to support the building of infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI).

The talks encompass the need for chips, energy and data centers, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (April 10), citing unnamed sources.

OpenAI believes that one of the biggest challenges facing the tech industry is the amount of energy it takes to power AI systems, according to the report. 

To address these issues, Altman hopes to form a “global AI coalition,” the report said.

Altman has spoken with officials in several Western countries, talked with officials and investors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week, and will meet with legislators and national security and intelligence officials in Washington later this week, per the report.

Asked by Bloomberg about reports of these meetings, a spokesperson for OpenAI told the media outlet: “As previously reported, OpenAI is having ongoing conversations about increasing global infrastructure and supply chains for chips, energy and data centers. We look forward to sharing more details at a later date.”

It was reported in February that Altman was seeking approval from the U.S. government for an initiative aimed at enhancing the global manufacturing of AI chips because the venture could raise national security and antitrust concerns in Washington.

Altman was actively engaging at that time with potential investors and partners in the U.S., Middle East and Asia, while emphasizing the importance of obtaining approval from Washington before proceeding with any deals.

Also in February, it was reported that Altman’s vision of reducing the scarcity of AI chips used to train large language models (LLMs) could mean raising between $5 trillion and $7 trillion.

At the time, Altman was in discussions with backers that include the government of the UAE to raise funds for an initiative that would increase the planet’s abilities to build chips and power AI.

A study published in October, “The growing energy footprint of artificial intelligence,” found that by 2027, AI servers could be responsible for as much energy use as the entire country of Sweden, or around 0.5% of the entire world’s electricity.