OpenAI signed a secret letter to buy brain-like AI chips

According to Wired, OpenAI signed a letter of intent to purchase $51 million worth of AI chips from startup Rain, a company Sam Altman has personally invested in. Rain is developing a brain-inspired chip called a neuromorphic processing unit (NPU) which it claims could yield 100x more computing power and 10,000x greater energy efficiency for AI model training compared to today's GPUs.

What's going on here?

The newly reported OpenAI-Rain agreement highlights potential hardware plans and sources of conflict.

What does this mean?

OpenAI (Sam) sees custom hardware like Rain's NPU as key to advancing AI capabilities and overcoming constraints it currently faces in rolling out models like ChatGPT. Wired claims that the deal depends on Rain’s ability to deliver working chips.

Earlier this year, Rain said that it could tape out a chip soon (almost ready to produce the chips in simple words). However, national security concerns over Saudi investment in Rain led a government committee to force divestment, which along with a recent leadership change at Rain could be roadbreaks to fulfilling the $51 million order.

Why should I care?

Sam has invested $1M in Rain earlier. As news reports go, this one again relates to the big question: was this the root of “not candid communication” that led to Sam Altman’s firing?

Talking about the chips, Rain’s NPU could be game-changing, though Rain’s claims remain scientifically unproven. Still, fair to say that new custom hardware is pivotal for progress at OpenAI and AI in general.