Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm in talks to back OpenAI’s chip venture

Abu Dhabi's state-backed AI investment company MGX is in early-stage discussions to invest in OpenAI's ambitious chip venture, a media report said on Friday.

According to the Financial Times, citing sources, the companies are looking at creating a structure that will put Abu Dhabi at the centre of this AI strategy with global partners worldwide.

MGX, an AI investment company with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and AI firm G42 as founding partners, was launched earlier this week.

According to the report, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, is aiming to launch a semiconductor business to reduce its dependence on cutting-edge chips made by chip maker Nvidia.

In addition, the report mentioned that the UAE's AI Minister, Omar Sultan Al Olama, stated that Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, who has founded xAI, a company that builds AI models in an effort to compete with OpenAI, was also interested in collaborating with the Gulf state.

"I do see him (Musk) doing something (AI-related) here. I don’t think it’s far out for him to do something here. The economics are going to dictate what he and others do here," minister Olama was quoted as saying.

Earlier this year, Altman visited South Korea to discuss ways to set up a global network for AI chip manufacturing with key chipmakers here, industry sources said.