- So, OpenAI is the organization or company that is behind the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT.
- This is the firm that is exploring the possibility of manufacturing chips in-house amid a global shortage of expensive and difficult-to-produce hardware.
Now, the Reuters report of October 5, 2023, cites that the people are familiar with the matter and later told that OpenAI has also evaluated an unnamed company that too is a potential target for an acquisition to just help with its AI chip-making ambitions. This is also the company that has not yet decided if it will move on to the acquisition or not.
OpenAI Is Looking At Producing AI Chips In-House
So, people need to know that an OpenAI is also one that has internally discussed several different options just to address the currency chip shortage. Also, besides building on the particular chips, some options include working more closely with the current primary chip supplier, NVIDIA, and diversifying chip suppliers beyond its currency providers.
But this year, Sam Altman, OpenAI founder and CEO, complained to a room full of AI developers about chip shortages that were delaying his company’s progress. This is according to a now-deleted blog post that was written by the CEO of AI firm Humanloop.
There is also a common theme that came up throughout the discussion and it is currently OpenAI, which is extremely GPU-limited and this is delaying a lot of the particular short-term plans. Later, it was stated that if OpenAI does proceed with the reported plan to just manufacture its own chips, then it will join a small group of tech industry heavyweights like Google and Amazon that also moved chip production in-house.
Also, in November last year, the demand for specialized AI chips has been skyrocketed and this was just because of the public launch of ChatGPT. Later, the wave of demand has always seen NVIDIA’s share price surge as companies looking to develop AI applications clamor to purchase the costly computing hardware.
People need to make sure that it is still not clear whether OpenAI will move ahead with a particular plan to build a custom chip or not. By doing so, it would always be a major strategic initiative along with a heavy investment that could always amount to hundreds of millions of dollars a year in costs.
Also, if OpenAI decides to go ahead with plans for the custom chip, including acquisition, all the efforts are most likely to take different years, leaving the particular company dependent on commercial providers like NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices in the meantime.
Some big tech companies have been building their particular processors for years too, with limited results. Also, the Facebook owner is now working on a newer chip that will always span all types of AI work.
Conclusion
Lastly, the demand for various specialized AI chips has soared and this is the scene since the launch of ChatGPT last year. Some specific chips and AI accelerators are necessary to train and then run the latest generative AI technology. NVIDIA is also one of the few chipmakers that produces useful AI chips and dominates the particular market.
Dr. Naveen Singh is an entrepreneur with achievements in sports, academics, healthcare, innovation, blockchain technology, telecommunications, and philanthropy. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Inery, the first layer-1 blockchain programmed for database management. With Inery, he aligns with his vision of a new paradigm for data to empower web3 and complete decentralization.