OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has launched a wide-reaching initiative across East Asia and the Middle East aimed at securing the resources required to sustain the company’s rapidly expanding infrastructure needs. According to reports, Altman has been meeting with semiconductor manufacturers and potential financial backers since late September, underscoring the pressing requirement for advanced chips and large-scale funding to meet the surging global demand for artificial intelligence services. The Wall Street Journal noted that these discussions form part of OpenAI’s strategy to secure priority supply and long-term stability in its computing pipeline.
Altman has already held meetings in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, engaging with leading manufacturers including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Foxconn, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix. These companies represent critical players in the global semiconductor ecosystem, and Altman has reportedly pressed them to increase production capacity and prioritize orders for OpenAI. The discussions highlight the intense competition for chip resources as AI companies scale operations, with OpenAI seeking to cement its position by ensuring supply chain stability. While neither Microsoft nor the manufacturers have issued immediate responses to media inquiries, the talks signal a major step in OpenAI’s international engagement strategy.
In recent developments, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix signed letters of intent to supply memory chips specifically for OpenAI’s data centres, suggesting progress in negotiations. At the same time, Altman is preparing to travel to the United Arab Emirates to engage investors as part of a broader fundraising effort. The objective is to secure capital not only for current infrastructure requirements but also for future research and expansion. Reports indicate that Altman is seeking long-term commitments to sustain the pace of OpenAI’s growth, reflecting the increasing financial weight required to compete in a global AI market where computational capacity is seen as a decisive advantage.
Financial disclosures shared with OpenAI’s investors and business partners show the magnitude of the company’s expenditure on computing resources. For 2025, OpenAI has projected spending close to $16 billion on server rentals alone, with forecasts suggesting that this figure could rise dramatically to approximately $400 billion by 2029. Such projections illustrate both the capital-intensive nature of artificial intelligence development and the urgency driving Altman’s efforts to secure funding and infrastructure partnerships across multiple regions. As OpenAI continues to expand, the alignment of suppliers and investors in Asia and the Middle East is expected to play a central role in shaping the company’s ability to deliver services at scale.
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