OpenAI penned a $51 Million order for advanced Neuromorphic AI chips

By Matthew Griffin Computing 15th February 2024

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Neuromorphic computing is “one of” the next generation of AI’s – computers that self learn – and Altman has already been placing orders for future chips.

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Back in 2019 OpenAI apparently signed a letter of intent to spend $51 million on a special kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips from neuromorphic computing chip startup Rain AI. Wired reports that CEO Sam Altman has personally invested more than $1 million into the company, which says that it is working hard to develop the next generation of ultra low power, ultra fast AI Neuromorphic Processing Units (NPU), just as elsewhere other companies are now starting to power up the world’s first brain scale neuromorphic computing systems.

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OpenAI would spend the $51m as soon as the chips are available, with Rain telling investors that it plans to ship its first chips as soon as this October. Sam Altman was CEO of OpenAI at the time of the deal, then was fired last November before being re-hired again in a shambolic mess after staff threatened to quit.

The Future of Computing 2050, by Keynote Matthew Griffin

Altman has several investments across Silicon Valley, many dating to his time leading startup incubator Y Combinator. The incubator is also a Rain backer. The OpenAI CEO has also tried to raise trillions, yes with a “T” for his own semiconductor venture, while OpenAI has also considered starting its own chip business.

Last month, Reuters reported that OpenAI hired the former lead of Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) AI chip as the head of hardware.

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Rain, meanwhile, says that it “is developing digital in-memory compute chips based on neuromorphic principles.”

The company’s leadership was reshuffled last month after the US government forced Saudi Arabia-affiliated fund Prosperity7 Ventures to sell its stake in the company over national security concerns.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

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