Sam Altman privately tells OpenAI investors to back emerging challenger to chip manufacturing giant Nvidia, even as Nvidia reportedly strengthens business relationship with Elon Musk The paper reported that the company is promoting the project as follows.
OpenAI’s CEO is pushing for a second upcoming $150 million funding round that values Rain AI, an emerging maker of high-performance semiconductors, at about $600 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. It is said that they are doing so.
Mr. Altman was a lead investor in Rain AI’s $25 million seed round in 2022, according to people familiar with the matter.
The latest round is expected to begin next month, officials said.
“He introduced the company to all the investors for this Series B round,” the person said of Altman.
Rain AI said its chips are much more energy efficient and powerful than Nvidia’s, sources said.
In June, the company hired former Apple chip executive Jeandidier Allegrucci as head of hardware engineering.
OpenAI declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Rain AI did not respond to a request for comment.
The Post exclusively reported earlier this month that Altman is promoting Rain AI as rival Elon Musk talks with Nvidia about investing in his xAI.
Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company in the artificial intelligence chip space with a staggering 85% market share and a market capitalization of $3.5 trillion.
Even if it invests with Musk, it is likely to continue selling chips to OpenAI.
Still, insiders speculate that Mr. Altman is concerned that the relationship between Nvidia and Mr. Musk has become too cozy.
CNBC reports that Musk plans to spend billions of dollars to buy 100,000 Nvidia chips in the near future.
“Rain AI is one of the legitimate players at the table when it comes to the future of AI and chips,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told the Post.
“There’s a lot of talk about how everything Rain AI works, and we’re in the early stages of the AI revolution,” Ives added. “There will be a lot of players, not just ‘Godfather of AI’ Jensen Huang and Nvidia.”
“When someone like Altman supports (them), it puts them in the spotlight right in the middle of Times Square,” he said.
“Whichever company[Altman]endorses, it’s a huge vote of confidence and it gives them a huge runway for where they want to go.”
