OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to use the billions of dollars he is trying to raise for the chip venture to expand its use of semiconductors, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the plans. A network of manufacturing factories can be established.

The report said Altman has been in talks with several major potential investors in the hope of raising the large sums needed for the chip fabrication plant, colloquially known as a fab.

According to the report, the project will involve working with top chip manufacturers and the network of fabs will be global in scope.

Making chips is expensive. They require billions of dollars of funding as well as abundant natural resources. The cost has been increasing over the years as technology advances to create chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

Abu Dhabi-based G42 and Japan’s SoftBank Group are among the companies that have held discussions with OpenAI bosses, but talks are still early and a full list of partners and funders involved has not been established, the report said.

According to the report, talks with G42, with which the ChatGPT maker partnered in October last year, were focused on raising $8 billion to $10 billion alone, although the current status of the discussions is unclear.

Intel, Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics are potential partners for OpenAI, the report said.

OpenAI, SoftBank, Intel, TSMC, G42 and Samsung did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Altman returned to OpenAI in November after a surprise exit that shocked the tech industry.

Bloomberg reports that he was working hard on the chips project until he was temporarily forced out and upon his return, he resumed the efforts. The report says that they have also told Microsoft about the plan and the software giant is interested in it.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)