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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is in talks with investors, including the UAE, to raise funds for a tech initiative to boost the world's chip-building capacity and expand its ability to power AI, among other things, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The project could require raising as much as $5 trillion to $7 trillion, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter. OpenAI and its biggest investor Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Altman's fundraising plans are aimed at solving constraints to OpenAI's growth, including the scarcity of artificial intelligence (AI) chips required to train large language models behind systems such as ChatGPT, the WSJ reported. The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has forecast a 13.1% jump in global chip sales to $595.3 billion this year, compared with a drop of about 8% in sales in 2023. The amounts Altman has discussed are outlandishly large by the standa...

 Apple on Monday introduced new MacBook Pro and iMac computers and three new chips to power them, with the company saying it had redesigned its graphics processing units (GPU), a key part of the chip where Nvidia dominates the market. The new computers and the M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max chips were unveiled at an online event heavily focused on professional users. In the US, the 14-inch MacBook Pro laptop will start at $1,599 and a 16-inch version starts at $2,499. The new iMac desktop with the M3 family of chips starts at $1,299. Some will be available next week, while others will not ship until later in November. Apple has seen a revitalization in its Mac Business , roughly doubling its market share to nearly 11% since 2020 when it parted ways with Intel and started using its own custom-designed chips as the brains of the machines, according to preliminary data from IDC. As part of the focus on Business users on Monday, it showed off a new secure screen-sharing fe...

 OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is exploring making its own artificial intelligence chips and has gone as far as evaluating a potential acquisition target, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. The company has not yet decided to move ahead, according to recent internal discussions described to Reuters. However, since at least last year it discussed various options to solve the shortage of expensive AI chips that OpenAI relies on, according to people familiar with the matter. These options have included building its own AI chip, working more closely with other chipmakers including Nvidia and also diversifying its suppliers beyond Nvidia. OpenAI declined to comment. CEO Sam Altman has made the acquisition of more AI chips a top priority for the company. He has publicly complained about the scarcity of graphics processing units, a market dominated by Nvidia, which controls more than 80% of the global market for the chips best suited to run...

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao urged Japan to halt semiconductor export controls, calling it a "wrongdoing" that "seriously violated" international economic and trade rules, a statement from his ministry said on Monday. China's latest condemnation of the export restrictions was made during Wang's talks with Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on May 26 at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Detroit. Japan, along with the Netherlands, in January agreed to match US  export controls that will limit the sale of some chipmaking tools to China, and has placed restrictions on the export of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to its neighbour. The U.S. imposed the restrictions last year aiming to slow China's work on supercomputers that can be used to develop nuclear weapons systems and artificial intelligence systems. Japan has not singled out China in its statements about the export controls, say...