Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is to visit Abu Dhabi to seek fresh funding from the UAE-based technology investment company MGX.
The visit is likely this week, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources.
Altman is looking for $40 billion fundraising to upgrade OpenAI’s ChatGPT model and back artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure developer Stargate amid growing Chinese competition.
The talks with MGX are part of Altman’s Asia fundraising tour. This week, OpenAI announced a partnership with Japan’s SoftBank for AI services.
In October 2024, the UAE company was part of the $6.6 billion funding round for OpenAI, which then valued the ChatGPT maker at $157 billion.
Last month, US president Donald Trump unveiled Stargate, which is backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle and MGX.
The companies intend to spend $100 billion to build AI-focused computing infrastructure, scaling up to $500 billion over the next four years.
Launched in March 2024, MGX is an AI-focused investment vehicle, with sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and AI company G42 as its founding partners.
Its investment strategy focuses on three main areas: AI infrastructure, semiconductors and AI core technologies and applications.
In September, MGX joined a $30 billion initiative that will invest in building data centres and energy infrastructure.