OpenAI partners with Broadcom to develop custom AI processors
What's the story
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has announced a partnership with chip giant Broadcom. The collaboration will see the design and development of specialized computer processors for artificial intelligence (AI). The deal is part of OpenAI's strategy to cement its position at the forefront of the generative AI revolution that started with ChatGPT's launch in November 2022.
Power provision
Deal to provide 10 gigawatts of computing power
The OpenAI-Broadcom partnership, which will kick off next year, is expected to provide a whopping 10 gigawatts of computing power. To put this into perspective, the energy needed for this amount of computing power is equivalent to that of a major city's electricity consumption. The deal comes as part of OpenAI's aggressive expansion strategy under CEO Sam Altman.
Strategic alliances
OpenAI's recent partnerships
In recent weeks, OpenAI has also struck deals with other US companies such as NVIDIA, AMD, and Oracle. The company has also partnered with South Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix. These partnerships are part of a broader strategy to build the necessary infrastructure for AI, despite concerns that they could overburden electricity providers due to high power consumption by AI chips and data centers.
Chip innovation
Designing custom chips
By designing its own chips instead of using off-the-shelf processors, OpenAI hopes to create hardware specifically tailored to its AI models. This could make them faster and more powerful. Despite some skepticism about the financial viability of these deals, Broadcom's shares jumped nearly 10% after the announcement.
Processor deployment
Custom processors to be deployed in data centers
The custom processors designed by OpenAI will be deployed in data centers run by OpenAI and its partners. This is to keep up with the skyrocketing global demand for AI services. Broadcom, which will manufacture and help develop these chips, has called the collaboration "a pivotal moment" in AI development.