7 Trillion Dollars Down The Road
OpenAI’s founder and CEO, Sam Altman, who had hitherto taken the world by a whirlwind since the inception of ChatGpt and other generative AI tools, now reportedly envisages taking the AI revolution to its big break by pouring almost 5-7 trillion dollars into AI chips, tools, and infrastructure, to strengthen its path for future developments and projects, including the advancement of AGI.
In Hindsight and correlation to the last couple of years… The global economy post-pandemic has witnessed a shortage in the supply of semiconductors, felt across almost all industries, including automobiles, electronics, and data science. This was largely caused by increased demand due to WFH culture in corporations after the pandemic, supply blockages due to the shutting down of industries, and geopolitical crises. The global sale of chips stood at $527 billion last year and is forecast to double by 2030, crossing the $1 trillion mark.
On the grounds of skyrocketing innovation, advancements, and overwhelming demand for AI tools and chatbots like ChatGpt, there is a capacity crunch for the tech giants to endure their expansion and deliver their services globally. OpenAI had to retract its subscriptions for Gpt4 last year in November due to a capacity crunch. "The surge in usage post DevDay has exceeded our capacity and we want to make sure everyone has a great experience," Altman wrote on X.
7 TRILLION DOLLARS: WHAT, WHERE, and HOW?
Coming back to the number….Still jiggling about the zeroes this number holds and oblivious to what this amount signifies?
Raising $7 trillion will make OpenAI the third most valuable entity on the planet and the first corporation to reach that figure solemnly.
The humongous capital shall be utilized for the massive production of AI chips, serving as a backbone for the industry, which requires trillions of calculations to run language models and operate at better efficiency. AI chips comprise graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and certain types of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) specialized for AI calculations. Moreover, Altman has also stressed the requisite of low-cost energy sources to catalyze AI development. He is a backer of the advanced nuclear fission microreactor startup Oklo and has expressed his faith in nuclear energy to fulfil clean energy needs. Other fields of investment include raising manufacturing capacity and data centres. Regardless, It is unclear and bemusing to justify whether such a deal of investments is quantifiably reasoned and if can be judiciously utilized subsequently.
Altman is in talks with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to get the assent of the U.S. and work on his plans. But to ask a very valid question, how is this going to work out for OpenAI, and whose funds is it looking to mobilize?
Altman has reportedly met U.A.E’s Sheikh Tanhoun Bin Zayed al Nahyan, leader of a rapidly growing financial portfolio, chair of numerous vehicles of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth, and brother of the U.A.E. President. He also conducted meetings with Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank, and with representatives from chip-fabrication companies, including TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company)
OpenAI endeavours to raise the amount over the years and mobilize the collective effort of industry giants and players to augment the production capacity of AI chips and infrastructure. Invigorating the path to further future advancements and equalizing mammoth demand and use.
IMPACT
OpenAI, founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and other technology entrepreneurs including Greg Brockman, was commenced as a non-profit to conduct research and study on AI advancement and put its use for the welfare of humanity.
One of the reasons cited when the corporate chaos unfolded after laying off Sam Altman from OpenAI from the board was the profit-driven motives of Sam Altman. He believed that OpenAI must have a viable business model and must push to create products and services that will make it a tech giant.
Building upon the above matter, those profit-propelling measures are rightfully observed, and if successful in their current intent, will make OpenAI one of the most valuable as well as powerful corporations globally.
Nevertheless, OpenAI will have to face tremendous hindrances from the U.S. economy, alarmed by the growing AI industry in the U.A.E., logistics, competitive counteraction from other tech giants, and also attracting public suspicion regarding exponential AI advancements.
These developments cannot happen overnight, they could take years to unfold, influencing outcomes, yet success remains uncertain. However, undermining its substance is foolish, and ethically channelling it is crucial.
REFRENCES
- The Wall street Journal
- The Hindu
- CNBC
