Altman sought to raise large sums of money for AI chip business before being fired – sources

A few weeks before Sam Altman was abruptly fired as CEO of Open AI, the company that developed the conversational artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT, he started working for a new semiconductor venture. The company was actively working to raise large amounts of funds from some of the world’s largest investors. This was revealed by multiple people with knowledge of the situation.

The project was code-named Tigris, and Altman traveled to the Middle East to raise funds. He reportedly had a vision to establish an AI-specific semiconductor company that could compete with Nvidia, which currently holds a large share of the market for AI-oriented semiconductors. Mr. Altman’s semiconductor venture has not yet been established and talks with investors are still in the early stages, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.

Altman is also looking to raise money for an AI-focused hardware device he is developing with former Apple design chief Jony Ive. Mr. Altman is negotiating with SoftBank Group, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Mubadala Investment of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to secure funding for these new ventures. .

Many details of Altman’s chip business idea, including its size and focus and the project’s code name, had not been previously reported.

Altman’s fundraising efforts come as open AI is at a critical juncture. OpenAI is finalizing a plan to sell employee stock at a valuation of $86 billion (approximately 12.87 trillion yen), led by venture capital firm Thrive Capital. SoftBank and other companies had also wanted to participate in the deal, but were placed on a waiting list for a similar offering to be held at a later date. Mr. Altman has meanwhile urged his investors to consider a new venture of his own, two people familiar with him said.

PIF officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI, SoftBank and Mubadala declined to comment.

news-rsf-original-reference paywall">Original title:Altman Sought Billions For AI Chip Venture Before OpenAI Ouster(excerpt)

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