Are we witnessing the next big shake-up in the tech universe? OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring a bold new venture, developing its own artificial intelligence (AI) chips. This move comes as a response to the scarcity of AI chips that OpenAI relies on to power its projects. While it's still in the exploratory phase, it's a daring move for a company typically known for its software innovations.
We’ll also address the elephant in the room. Nvidia, one of the major players, has long been known for inflating the price of cards and chips across the board because they can. The company has also ridden the crypto and AI trains all the way to the bank.
Seeking Silicon Independence
OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has made securing more AI chips a top priority, according to reports by Reuters. The scarcity of advanced processors and the colossal expenses associated with running the hardware necessary to power OpenAI's initiatives are major concerns for Altman. OpenAI's core artificial intelligence technologies have been developed on a massive supercomputer boasting 10,000 of Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) since 2020. This setup, while powerful, is expensive to maintain.
According to an analysis by Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, running ChatGPT costs roughly 4 cents per query. If ChatGPT's queries reached one-tenth the scale of Google search, it would necessitate approximately $48.1 billion worth of GPUs initially and around $16 billion worth of chips annually to keep operations running.
An Elite Club
Should OpenAI decide to forge its own AI chips, it would join an exclusive club of tech giants that have embarked on this journey, including Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com. These companies have recognized the importance of taking control of the designing of chips crucial to their operations.
However, the decision to build custom chips is not one to be taken lightly. It involves significant strategic planning and substantial investments, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Even with ample resources, success is not guaranteed. The acquisition of a chip company, as Amazon.com demonstrated with its purchase of Annapurna Labs in 2015, could expedite the process of creating OpenAI's custom chip. While OpenAI has performed due diligence on a potential acquisition target, the identity of the examined company remains a well-kept secret.
The Incredible Potential of AI and Kendall Jenner Bots...
This news comes at a time when human beings are leveraging the power of AI to do all sorts of remarkable things, such as recovering ancient texts ravaged by a volcanic eruption, making themselves a girlfriend and talking to AI-powered bots of famous people.
We’ve no doubt that the power of AI can be used for amazing things, and we’re all about embracing new technology. But, let’s hope the focus stays on creativity and productivity and not chatting with a Kendall Jenner bot.
