OpenAI's CEO Altman intends to enter the chip manufacturing industry and challenge TSMC's position. TSMC's newly elected chairman, Wei Zhejia, is skeptical about this plan, believing it is too radical.

TSMC's chairman Liu Deyin retired recently, and Wei Zhejia took over his position on June 4, 2024. After shareholder approval, he will officially become the chairman. Currently, Wei Zhejia holds two positions in TSMC: CEO/Chairman, marking the end of TSMC's "dual leadership system" and entering the era of Wei Zhejia's comprehensive leadership.

According to Reuters, Wei Zhejia said after TSMC's annual shareholders' meeting that he had talked with Altman about solving the chip shortage problem in the AI industry, but he believed Altman's ambition was too radical and incredible.

Previously, there were rumors that Altman planned to enter the chip industry on a large scale. According to the Wall Street Journal's report in February, Altman's plan may require up to $7 trillion in funds for infrastructure construction such as factories and data centers.

Reuters also revealed that Altman had proposed cooperating with TSMC to build about 36 factories to meet his needs, but TSMC believes this number is too large.

Altman's plan is to design and manufacture chips, which will make chip giants such as NVIDIA and TSMC its competitors. Although OpenAI has not officially announced its entry into the chip manufacturing industry, chip supply constraints have become a bottleneck for companies pursuing AI development.

Currently, many companies dedicated to AI models, including Altman's OpenAI, rely on a few chip design companies and foundries like TSMC to produce the required chips.