OpenAI is reportedly getting closer to launching its in-house chip

OpenAI remains on track to start producing its in-house AI chip next year, according to a report from Reuters. Sources tell the outlet that OpenAI plans to finalize its design over the next few months before sending it to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) for fabrication.

By making a chip of its own, OpenAI won’t have to use Nvidia’s chips as much to train and run AI models. TSMC will produce the chip using the more efficient 3-nanometer technology, with “high-bandwidth memory” and “extensive networking capabilities,” according to Reuters.

At launch, OpenAI will deploy its in-house chip on a “limited scale” and will mostly use it for running AI models, Reuters reports. The company also reportedly plans to develop future versions of the chip with more advanced processors and capabilities.

This follows last year’s report from Reuters, which suggested OpenAI is working with Broadcom to develop a custom chip. OpenAI’s chip design team is led by former Google TPU engineer Richard Ho and has increased from 20 to 40 people in recent months as efforts ramp up, according to Reuters.

Tech giants like OpenAI have poured billions into building out AI infrastructure and buying up chips to power their data-hungry AI models. It doesn’t look like the spending will slow down anytime soon, despite the AI startup DeepSeek calling into question whether companies really need to purchase thousands of chips to power their systems.