At the end of last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman began promoting a bold plan aimed at creating the computing power needed for the company to develop more powerful artificial intelligence.

During discussions with investors from the United Arab Emirates, chip manufacturers in Asia, and officials in Washington at the end of last year, he proposed that they come together to launch a global initiative worth trillions of dollars to build new chip factories and data centers worldwide, including in the Middle East.

Despite some participants and regulatory agencies expressing doubts about certain parts of the plan, the discussions continue and extend to Europe and Canada.

According to nine sources familiar with the discussions with OpenAI who spoke to foreign media outlets, OpenAI's global vision for future technology involves establishing numerous data centers, providing a global computing resource library, and dedicating efforts to develop the next generation of AI technology.

Despite the seemingly bizarre nature of this plan, Altman's actions indicate that in just a few years, he has become one of the most influential global technology executives, capable of holding discussions within weeks with capital from the Middle East, Asian manufacturing giants, and top regulatory agencies in the USA.

This also demonstrates the determination of the technology industry to accelerate the development of AI technology, which is considered to be potentially as transformative as the Industrial Revolution.

When news broke that the 39-year-old Altman was seeking trillions of dollars in investments, some mocked his attempt to secure funding equivalent to a quarter of the United States' annual economic output. Officials in Washington also expressed concerns about a US company attempting to build critical technology facilities in the Middle East. To establish AI infrastructure in multiple countries, US companies need approval from US officials supervising export controls.

According to these nine informants, Altman has reduced his ambitions to a few hundred billion dollars and devised a new strategy: by first helping to build data centers in the USA to attract support from US government officials.

It is currently unclear how this will work. OpenAI has been attempting to form a loose corporate alliance, including data center construction companies (such as Microsoft), as well as investors and chip manufacturers. However, it is still unclear who will contribute, who will benefit, and what exactly will be built. Meanwhile, OpenAI is engaged in another separate negotiation, seeking to raise $6.5 billion to support its own business, a deal that could potentially raise the startup's valuation to $150 billion. According to three informants, the UAE's tech investment firm MGX is among the potential investors, with other potential investors including Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Tiger Global.

According to these three informants, OpenAI is seeking cash as its costs far exceed its income. OpenAI brings in over $3 billion in sales revenue annually, but the expenses are around $7 billion.

Foreign media has previously reported on some of OpenAI's plans. Conversations with these nine informants provide a more complete picture of how these efforts and strategies have evolved.

In private conversations, Altman has compared global data centers to electrical utilities, according to three informants. As electricity supply becomes more widespread, people find better ways to use it. Altman hopes to do the same with data centers, ultimately making AI technology as prevalent as electricity.

Chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT learn skills by analyzing vast amounts of digital data. However, the chips and data center supply driving this process are insufficient. If the supply increases, OpenAI believes it can build more powerful AI systems.

According to the nine informants discussed with the company, in dozens of meetings, OpenAI executives urge tech companies and investors to expand global computing capabilities.

"Sam is thinking about how to keep OpenAI relevant," said Daniel Newman, CEO of technology research firm Futurum Group. "It needs more computing power, more connectivity, more electrical utilities."

Altman's initial plan required the UAE to fund the construction of multiple chip manufacturing plants, with each factory costing up to $43 billion. The plan will reduce the chip manufacturing costs for companies like Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest chip producer. Taiwan Semiconductor produces semiconductors for NVIDIA, a leading AI chip developer. The plan will allow NVIDIA to produce more chips, which will be used by OpenAI and other companies in more AI data centers.

Altman and his colleagues discussed the possibility of building data centers in the UAE, a country with abundant electrical utilities. In the USA, companies face difficulties in constructing new data centers due to insufficient power to run them.

OpenAI has previously discussed funding for infrastructure projects with MGX, an AI investment tool established in the UAE. OpenAI has also held talks with Taiwan Semiconductor, NVIDIA, and another semiconductor company Samsung.

UAE Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Omar Sultan Al Olama, stated in an interview with The New York Times in March that this mega-deal has commercial value.

NVIDIA declined to comment. MGX and Samsung did not respond to requests for comments.

OpenAI stated that its focus is on building infrastructure in the USA, with the aim of ensuring that the country maintains its global leadership in innovation, promoting national reindustrialization, and ensuring that the benefits of AI are widely accessible.

Taiwan Semiconductor spokesperson, Will Moss, stated that the company is willing to discuss expanding semiconductor development opportunities, but is currently focused on global expansion projects, with 'no new investment plans to disclose at this time.'

Shortly after initiating fundraising efforts, Altman visited Taiwan Semiconductor's headquarters in Taiwan and informed the company executives that his vision would require $7 trillion and several years to build 36 semiconductor factories and additional data centers. According to two sources familiar with the matter, this was his first visit to one of the factories costing billions of dollars.

Executives at Taiwan Semiconductor believe this idea is extremely absurd, to the point where they have started calling Altman the 'Podcast Brother,' according to one informed source. Adding several chip manufacturing factories, let alone 36, poses extremely high risks due to the massive amount of required funding.

"We have never, nor will we consider projects in the tens of trillions of dollars. While the full construction of global AI infrastructure may take several decades and the total investment may reach tens of trillions of dollars, the specific project scale that OpenAI is exploring is in the hundreds of billions of dollars," said OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois.

Around the same time, Altman visited South Korea and held talks with the country's two chip manufacturers, Samsung and SK Hynix. However, he quickly encountered concerns regarding national security, fearing that the UAE would play a crucial role in developing what many consider to be technology vital for the economy and military.

Some officials in the White House and congressional leaders are concerned that approving the construction of infrastructure in the UAE could provide China with a backdoor entry to important technologies.

Discussions with the US Department of Commerce, the UAE, and chip manufacturers are still ongoing. OpenAI is also expanding discussions in other regions, according to four informed sources.

In the spring, company executives held talks with Japanese officials in Tokyo. They proposed a plan to utilize the electrical capacity of closed nuclear power plants from the 2011 Fukushima disaster to build datacenters.

According to an informed source, during a meeting, when OpenAI mentioned the need for 5 gigawatts of power, a Japanese official burst into laughter as this is a thousand times the power consumption of a typical datacenter.

Subsequently, in a meeting with German officials, OpenAI discussed the possibility of building datacenters in the North Sea to leverage 7 gigawatts of power from offshore wind turbines.

But political pressure has forced OpenAI to explore options in the United States. At a meeting at the White House this month with other tech leaders, Altman presented a research report from OpenAI titled 'Infrastructure as Destiny'.

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the research report calls for the construction of new data centers in the United States, each costing $100 billion - about 20 times the cost of current most powerful data centers. These data centers will house 2 million AI chips, consuming 5 gigawatts of power. Altman reportedly spoke in front of a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had invested in large infrastructure projects like New York's Lincoln Tunnel.

The OpenAI CEO told White House officials including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that the AI data centers would be a catalyst for America's reindustrialization, creating as many as 500,000 jobs.

Altman also warned of the risk of the U.S. falling behind China, suggesting that if the U.S. does not collaborate with the UAE, China could step in.

This week, President Biden and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed met at the White House and instructed senior officials of both countries to draft a memorandum detailing future cooperation in artificial intelligence.

In an effort to bolster its initiatives, OpenAI has hired Chris Lehane, former White House lawyer under the Clinton administration, as Vice President of Global Policy. They also brought on two Commerce Department staffers involved in drafting the CHIPS Act, a bipartisan law aimed at boosting domestic chip manufacturing. One of these individuals will oversee future infrastructure projects and policies.

Last week, Altman humbly discussed the company's grand goals at an investor event for OpenAI customer T-Mobile. "We are building on a lot of existing work," he said. "If you think about all the advances in semiconductor discovery, chip manufacturing, networks, and these massive data centers in human history, you'll see we are just building on top of these efforts."

"We are building on a lot of existing work," he said. "If you think about all the advances in semiconductor discovery, chip manufacturing, networks, and these massive data centers in human history, you'll see we are just building on top of these efforts."

Editor/ping