OpenAI
OpenAI is reportedly gearing up to produce its first artificial intelligence chip next year, in collaboration with US semiconductor giant Broadcom, according to a report by the Financial Times. Sources familiar with the matter suggest that the chip will be deployed exclusively for OpenAI’s internal operations, rather than being offered commercially.
This will mark a significant step for the ChatGPT-maker to reduce reliance on Nvidia, the dominant player in the AI chip market. Training and running large language models requires massive computing power, and OpenAI has long been exploring ways to secure a steady and cost-effective supply of chips.
Last year, reports suggested that OpenAI was working with both Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to design its first in-house silicon. The company was also integrating AMD hardware alongside Nvidia GPUs to meet its surging infrastructure demands. By early 2024, insiders revealed that OpenAI was finalizing the design of its first-generation chip, with plans to send it to TSMC for fabrication.
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Meanwhile, Broadcom’s CEO Hock Tan disclosed that the company has secured over $10 billion in AI infrastructure orders from a new, unnamed customer, widely speculated to be OpenAI. Tan added that the new client had placed a firm order last quarter, officially becoming a qualified customer. Earlier this year, he had hinted that Broadcom was working closely with several new partners to develop custom silicon solutions, in addition to its existing major clients.
If true, OpenAI will join Google, Amazon, and Meta, who already have developed their own AI chips to handle increasing computational demands. Building custom hardware will help the AI platform reduce dependency on external suppliers, but also offer performance optimisations designed to specific workloads. However, neither OpenAI nor Broadcom has shared any official details on the same.