Make money in the Middle East, make chips in East Asia—Altman’s second “compute power empire roadshow.”

``` OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is launching a global fundraising and supply chain deployment campaign, seeking financing and manufacturing partners to meet the startup’s enormous demand for computing power. Unlike the much-criticized $7 trillion infrastructure plan pitch at the beginning of 2024, this time he has garnered more support. On October 4th, it was reported that since late September, the head of the ChatGPT maker has visited Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan to accelerate the construction of global AI chip manufacturing capacity. He met with companies such as TSMC, Foxconn, Samsung, and SK Hynix, pushing them to increase capacity and prioritize OpenAI’s orders. Altman also plans to visit investors in the UAE to raise funds for OpenAI’s infrastructure expansion and research. According to informed sources, potential new capital will partly fund the Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi. This round of trips comes against the backdrop of a blockbuster deal between OpenAI and NVIDIA, with the chip giant agreeing to lease up to 5 million AI chips to the ChatGPT maker and invest up to $100 billion to achieve this goal. The agreement boosted global chip providers’ share prices and provided strong support for Altman’s “compute power empire” vision. From Skepticism to Support: Recognition of Compute Power Demand Altman’s current trip is reminiscent of his journey at the beginning of 2024, when he pitched a $7 trillion infrastructure plan to companies such as TSMC, Samsung, and SK Hynix, and sought funding from the UAE. However, some industry leaders felt that, considering the minuscule revenue from AI services at the time, Altman’s plan was not realistic. Shortly after that trip, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei stated that Altman was “too aggressive, I can hardly believe it.” This time, he has received more support. OpenAI's confidence in its computing power needs stems from the blockbuster deal with NVIDIA, which helped solidify Altman’s vision for compute power. Roughly three years after launching its AI chatbot, OpenAI is currently valued at $500 billion, on par with global companies such as Netflix and ExxonMobil. East Asia Expansion: Securing Chip Capacity In recent days, Altman held talks with technical leaders from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Japanese electronics and industrial giant Hitachi. The announcement of these partnerships has boosted the share prices of all three companies. Altman brought the two Korean companies in as storage chip partners. According to informed sources, OpenAI’s overall demand could reach 900,000 wafers per month, more than double the current global capacity for high-bandwidth memory. These companies plan to jointly develop AI data centers with OpenAI in South Korea. In Japan, OpenAI reached an agreement with Hitachi, which will support OpenAI in developing AI infrastructure, including providing power transmission and distribution equipment for the U.S. startup’s data centers. OpenAI will provide its models and other technology to Hitachi. The report also noted that Altman discussed the manufacturing and deployment of NVIDIA’s upcoming Rubin system with some companies. OpenAI will be one of the first customers to receive the Rubin system in the second half of 2026. Middle East Fundraising: Paving the Way for Data Center Construction According to reports, during his stay in the Middle East, Altman plans to meet with Abu Dhabi investment funds MGX and Mubadala as well as OpenAI’s operating partner G42. Potential new capital will partly fund the Stargate data center in Abu Dhabi. Informed sources said OpenAI recently told investors and business partners that the company may spend about $16 billion this year on renting compute servers, and that figure could rise to about $400 billion by 2029. The Grand Blueprint for the Compute Power Empire: 1GW Target Per Week This week, OpenAI reignited global enthusiasm by releasing its Sora 2 video generation model on Tuesday. Industry participants expect such models and applications to drive compute power demand growth much more significantly than text-based models. Altman wrote in a recent blog post: “Our vision is simple: we want to create a factory that can produce 1GW of new AI infrastructure every week.” Last month, OpenAI and NVIDIA said they would deploy at least 10GW of NVIDIA computing systems for OpenAI to train and run the next generation of models. OpenAI also announced five new data center site selections in the United States, to be built in cooperation with Oracle and Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank. Risk Warning and Disclaimer The market involves risks, investment needs caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice, nor does it take into account the individual user's special investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, viewpoints, or conclusions in this article suit their particular circumstances. Investments made accordingly are at your own risk. ```