As competition in AI development intensifies, concerns are growing about the dominance of Nvidia, which almost monopolizes the semiconductor market in the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. There are concerns that the supply shortage is worsening and that the resulting price surge may make AI development difficult for universities and small and medium-sized companies.
For this reason, it is known that the ‘table’ is growing, with trillions of won being discussed in investment in a new AI chip semiconductor company promoted by Open AI CEO Sam Altman. On the 20th (local time), the Financial Times (FT) and Bloomberg News each cited sources, saying, “Altman has had conversations with several large potential investors to raise the enormous funds needed for the chip manufacturing plant,” and “top chip companies.” It includes cooperation with and the supply chain scope will be global.”
It is also known that G42, an AI company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), is at the center of this. This company is invested by the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund and is chaired by Tahnoun bin Zayed, the de facto ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE national adviser. He is also the younger brother of UAE President Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Bloomberg News reported that Softbank Group, owner of British semiconductor company ARM, has also joined discussions on establishing a new AI semiconductor factory, and FT reported that TSMC has also joined the discussion. The new semiconductor supply chain against Nvidia is growing.
However, within the United States, Altman’s close consultation with the UAE is quite controversial. G42 is suspected by the US Congress of being responsible for procuring AI chips to China. There are concerns that Altman’s creation of a new semiconductor company with the Middle East could be a burden for the U.S. government, which is trying to build an ‘allied’ supply chain for semiconductors. One U.S. AI industry official said, “I don’t know why Open AI, rather than the U.S. government, should lead semiconductor cooperation with the Middle East.” Previously, after Altman’s business trip to the Middle East last year, the board of directors was dismissed because “Altman was not honest.”
Despite the controversy, it is evaluated that the growing discussion of new semiconductor companies due to Open AI’s connection to Altman and the Middle East is evidence that the AI chip supply shortage is becoming more serious. Since there are no chips costing more than tens of millions of won each, there are concerns that each university will find it difficult to develop AI with its own budget. Recently, in Switzerland, the government secured NVIDIA AI chips for universities, and in France, billionaire businessman Xavier Niel created a foundation to secure NVIDIA chips, allowing French universities to jointly use computing resources for AI development.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.