OpenAI management’s ambitions in the development and production of its own accelerators for artificial intelligence (AI) systems are no secret. Recently, The Information reported that the company was negotiating with Broadcom to develop a corresponding chip. Following this news, Broadcom’s shares increased in price by 3%.
Broadcom and Other Collaborators
As the source notes, Broadcom was just one of the developers with whom OpenAI was negotiating. Among those involved in the process were people from Google with experience in developing processors of the Tensor family. OpenAI managed to hire some of them to implement their own plans. These specialists were tasked with developing server-class accelerators for AI systems.
Overcoming Hardware Infrastructure Challenges
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has repeatedly complained about the lack of hardware infrastructure to support his plans for the development of AI systems. His company could assist partners in building not only data centers but also component manufacturing plants and power plants. Broadcom has a division that develops chips based on specific customer requirements.
If the OpenAI project were to be implemented, the Broadcom processor would begin production no earlier than 2026. Along the way, OpenAI management had to negotiate with Samsung and SK Hynix regarding equipping the corresponding accelerators with HBM-type memory. OpenAI planned to produce the chip at the facilities of TSMC, and Altman was negotiating with the latter about increasing the production volume of Nvidia chips, which OpenAI also actively uses, adds NIX Solutions.
We’ll keep you updated on any further developments in OpenAI’s ambitious project.