OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends Intel foundry event and is actively seeking alternative chip partners.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is set to participate in Intel's foundry event in late February. Altman, who is reportedly in talks to start a new chip venture, will discuss the importance that semiconductors play in the modern world both in general and in artificial intelligence applications in particular. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the appearance on X (formerly Twitter), stating "Thrilled Sam Altman is joining me at Direct Connect on Feb 21," and added that "Sam Altman is a renowned leader on #AI and its impact on world. Looking forward to discussing the role semis play in enabling modern society. Infinite possibilities ahead in the age of AI & no better convo for Intel's first foundry event. See you soon Sam!"

At the Direct Connect event beginning February 21, Intel and its Intel Foundry Services division will discuss the company's process technology roadmap beyond the Intel 18A, a 1.8nm-class production node. Altman is reportedly building his own AI processor company to develop hardware and address shortages of Nvidia's AI and HPC GPUs. A Financial Times report claims that Altman is currently in talks with Middle Eastern investors to finance his chip venture.

In pursuit of chip manufacturing capabilities, Altman has reportedly met with executives from TSMC in Taiwan and representatives from Samsung Foundry in Seoul. According to Bloomberg, Altman also met with Samsung's DRAM and LSI divisions, representatives from SK hynix, and executives from SK Group. Should Altman proceed with building an AI processor, he would need contract manufacturers with leading edge process technologies such as Intel Foundry Services, Samsung Foundry, and TSMC. Speaking at an IFS event may demonstrate that Altman has a close relationship with Intel, though whether Intel and OpenAI are already working together on a project remains to be seen. Regardless, Intel and IFS are certainly looking forward to potentially landing orders from large, growing datacenter companies such as OpenAI.