OpenAI's CEO has recently visited Taiwan, making crucial stops at TSMC and Foxconn to discuss the company's AI projects, including Stargate and its pursuit of ASICs.
Sam Altman Has Reportedly Approached Both TSMC & Foxconn For Stargate & Its Custom AI Chip
OpenAI is currently in the pursuit of rapidly expanding its compute capabilities, whether it is striking 'multi-billion' dollar deals with the likes of NVIDIA and Coreweave for AI hardware, or even working towards its custom AI chips. A new report by the Taiwan Economic Daily reveals that OpenAI's Sam Altman has visited Taiwan, discussing matters related to its highly ambitious Stargate project with Foxconn, as well as visiting TSMC to explore their self-built AI chip plans.
For those unaware, Foxconn is set to be one of the largest suppliers for NVIDIA's rack-scale solutions, which will power the Stargate project. This project plans to establish several data centers, collaborating with partners such as OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. Stargate is valued at around $500 billion and is projected to be America's biggest venture in terms of computing power. Altman's visit to Foxconn would likely be to discuss AI server production capacities, as well as how the Taiwanese firm would contribute to developing the mega AI infrastructure.
The more important visit is around Altman and TSMC, as the report indicates that OpenAI's CEO has discussed the company's pursuit of developing AI chips. Initially, the custom AI chip project was expected to be co-developed with Broadcom. However, now that AI giant OpenAI has recruited individuals from Google's TPU project, it appears that OpenAI will likely take chip design into its own hands, eventually outsourcing it to TSMC for manufacturing.
Specifications of OpenAI's custom chip are uncertain; however, it is speculated that the firm will utilize TSMC's 3nm process, with integration expected by 2026. OpenAI's ASIC will mark the first 'demonstration' of custom chip projects from Big Tech, and see whether they are a viable counterpart to NVIDIA's offerings, hence it is a huge deal.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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