Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week shared his thoughts on the reported $7 trillion AI chipmaking plan proposed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. While he called the number "astronomical," Zuckerberg also expressed his belief in the necessity of such a plan for the future of artificial intelligence.
What Happened: In an interview with the Morning Brew Daily podcast, Zuckerberg was asked about Altman’s reported plan to raise $7 trillion for the semiconductor infrastructure required to power AI systems.
The podcasters mentioned that Altman’s plan had been termed as "overkill" by certain people from the tech industry. In response, the Meta CEO admitted that the number is "astronomical" and hard to "wrap my head around."
However, he said, "I think the place that he’s right is that, if you look over the years, these companies keep on building these larger and larger training clusters of computers to basically train the state-of-the-art models.”
He went on to explain that the increasing scale of AI model training clusters would eventually require a massive increase in chip production.
"So it’s like a couple of years ago, maybe it was like a thousand chips that you kind of wired together. Then it’s 10,000, then it’s 100,000. At some point it’s going to be a million, right? And then it’s like at some point, okay, yeah, you really need to produce a ton of chips," he stated.
"So at that point, I don’t think he is crazy. I don’t know what it will take to kind of accelerate all of this to the point where kind of the technological curve can keep up," the CEO added.
Zuckerberg said that “at some point Sam is right.” Eventually, the industry will encounter “physical constraints in terms of producing chips and the power requirements necessary to train larger models.”
"I think it is worth thinking about how to alleviate some of those constraints, because I think this technology’s going to enable all these awesome use cases that I think are going to make our lives better in so many ways.”
Why It Matters: Altman’s $7 trillion AI chipmaking plan has been a topic of significant discussion in the tech industry. The plan has been met with both skepticism and intrigue. Some view it as a visionary leap forward, while others question its feasibility.
Altman has reportedly been in discussions with potential investors and partners across the US, Middle East, and Asia. However, the project’s advancement hinges on approval from the U.S. government.
Last week, it was reported that the OpenAI CEO has been seeking approval from the Joe Biden-led administration for his $7 trillion chipmaking dreams.
The idea is to gather trillions of dollars to boost the global capacity for advanced computing chips, thereby averting a potential shortage that might hinder the widespread adoption of AI.
Photo by Frederic Legrand – COMEO on Shutterstock
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