TMTPOST --OpenAI   CEO Sam Altman recently   held low-profile meetings   in two major manufacturers   based in Taiwan,   according to   local news   media   outlet   Digital Times.

Credit：IBM

Altman reportedly   took a   low-profile   trip   to Taiwan on   September 30   to separately meet   representatives   of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing   Company   Ltd., ( TSMC )   and Foxconn,   mainly   discussing   collaboration in AI chip-making and AI   server   infrastructure development.

The report suggested   part of Altman's discussion aims   to keep up with OpenAI ’ s   increasing hardware   demand for Stargate, an   artificial intelligence ( AI ) infrastructure joint   venture   founded together with Oracle and SoftBank Group Corp.   The venture plans five   major datacenters across the United States,   and is   seeking to expand into the Middle   East and South   Korea. SoftBank ’ s CEO Masayoshi Son   was also reported to visit Foxconn, underscoring the company ’ s critical role since   it   is Oracle ’ s largest supplier of AI servers.

Altman ’ s meeting   with TSMC, the world ’ s   largest and most   advanced chip   design and manufacturing company,   was   deemed   as part of preparation for   OpenAI ’ s   in-house chip development. OpenAI   reportedly   formed an AI   ASIC   design team last year   and is   working with Broadcom   to develop   chips using TSMC ’ s advanced   3nm   manufacturing process.These chips, with   chip-on-wafer-on-substrate ( CoWoS )   packaging   technology   combined with high-bandwidth memory ( HBM ) ,   are   expected to start mass production   in 2026.

Altman ’ s   reported   meetings reflected   OpenAI ’ s   latest effort to intensify its   AI   infrastructure, which relies heavily on Taiwan ’ s semiconductor supply chain.  

OpenAI last week   inked new strategic partnerships with   two South Korean giants Samsung and SK   s part of OpenAI ’ s Stargate initiative. OpenAI said these partnerships will focus on increasing the supply of advanced memory chips essential for next-generation AI and expanding data center capacity in Korea, positioning Samsung and SK as key contributors to global AI infrastructure and supporting Korea ’ s ambition to become a top-three global AI nation.

Through these partnerships, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world ’ s top two memory chip makers,   plan to scale up production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 Dynamic Random-Access Memory   ( DRAM )   wafer starts per month at an accelerated capacity rollout, critical for powering OpenAI ’ s advanced AI models, according to OpenAI.

Samsung and SK separately announced their Letter of Intents ( IOI ) signed with OpenAI in Seoul. Starting with the landmark partnership with OpenAI, Samsung said it plans to fully support Korea ’ s goals to become one of the world ’ s top three nations in AI and create new opportunities in the field.

Besides the supply of DRAM waters, another Samsung ’ s unit Samsung SDS has entered into a potential partnership with OpenAI to jointly develop AI data centers and provide enterprise AI services. Samsung C&T and Samsung Heavy Industries will collaborate with OpenAI to advance global AI data centers, with a particular focus on the joint development of floating data centers. These two companies will also explore opportunities to pursue projects in floating power plants and control centers, in addition to floating data center infrastructure.

SK   said it will supply High Bandwidth Memory ( HBM ) for the construction of global AI data center under the Stargate project under the IOL. Noting that OpenAI ’ s monthly HBM demand for up to 900,000 DARM wafers is more than double the current industry capacity, SK hynix will establish a production system capable of promptly meeting OpenAI ’ s HBM demand for up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month.

SK Telecom signed an   Memorandum of Understanding   ( MOU ) with OpenAI to collaborate on building a   AI Data Center in the southwest region of Korea as part of   Stargate, also known as Stargate Korea. Leveraging its solid experience in data center construction and operation, SK Telecom and OpenAI will jointly develop next-generation computing and data center solutions. They will also explore various AI service use cases for consumers and enterprises.