The United Arab Emirates (UAE) may support OpenAI’s ambitious intentions to create its own semiconductor chips to fuel sophisticated AI models, the Financial Times reported.
According to the source, OpenAI’s initiative to produce its own AI chips is being discussed for possible funding by MGX, a state-backed group in Abu Dhabi. Two people who were aware of the discussions provided this information.
According to reports, OpenAI is looking for contributions totaling trillions of dollars from investors worldwide in order to fulfill its objective of developing semiconductor chips internally. The San Francisco-based corporation wants to lessen its dependency on Nvidia, the market leader in semiconductor chip technology at the moment, by producing its own processors.
In February 2023, OpenAI entered into a financing agreement with Thrive Capital, which is said to have raised the company’s worth to over $80 billion—nearly tripling it in less than ten months.
This occurs concurrently with the UK semiconductor industry’s improved access to research money due to its membership in the European Union’s “Chips Joint Undertaking.”
The UK’s involvement in the Chips Joint Undertaking gives the country’s semiconductor industry more access to a €1.3 billion fund set aside by Horizon Europe to assist semiconductor research through 2027. The UK government is supporting the initiative with £5 million this year and another £30 million expected to fund UK participation in additional research between 2025 and 2027.
Technology Minister Saqib Bhatti stated, “By joining the Chips Joint Undertaking, we will strengthen Britain’s strengths in semiconductor science and research to secure our position in the global chip supply chain.” “This highlights our steadfast dedication to expanding the frontiers of technology and solidifies our significant influence in molding the prospects of semiconductor technologies globally.”
Back in the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the country’s national security adviser, is in charge of MGX, the organization that is behind the possible investment in OpenAI. MGX is an AI-focused fund that was established earlier this week. The fund was founded in cooperation with G42 and Mubadala. As part of the company’s Middle East development, G42 had already partnered with OpenAI in October 2023.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said during the G42 cooperation deal that the company intends to introduce AI solutions that “resonate with the nuances of the region” to the Middle East.
“They’re looking at creating a structure that will put Abu Dhabi at the center of this AI strategy with global partners around the world,” emphasized one of the sources briefed on the MGX fund.
The UAE and the UK-EU are positioning themselves as major competitors in the race to develop cutting-edge semiconductor technologies.