OpenAI's New Ambition: Developing Its Own Chips for "AI Phones"

The parent company of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, OpenAI, appears keen to venture into new territory. The firm, led by Sam Altman, is reportedly ambitious about producing its own smartphone chips. This information was revealed by renowned analyst from TF International Securities, Ming-Chi Kuo, who frequently provides accurate leaks on technology news. In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Kuo stated that OpenAI is in the process of forging partnerships with Qualcomm and MediaTek. The collaboration aims to develop a custom System-on-Chip (SoC) to serve as the “brain” of smartphones, focusing on more optimal AI processing. The end product is said to be an AI phone dubbed the “AI Agent Phone”. This is a device that can execute various tasks automatically, quickly, and efficiently, with minimal user intervention. This strategy resembles Google’s approach with its Tensor chips in Pixel devices, which prioritise AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities. Kuo assesses that partnering with Qualcomm and MediaTek allows OpenAI to avoid building processor architecture from scratch, a process known to be complex and expensive. OpenAI has previously entered the AI chip development space with Broadcom. However, those chips were designed for data centres, not mobiles. Those chips are used to accelerate AI workloads while reducing operational costs for data centres. This step follows industry trends, where major technology companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Google are beginning to develop their own AI chips to lessen dependence on third parties. Kuo also predicts that the semiconductor product will enter mass production in 2028. The Chinese electronics manufacturing company, Luxshare, is said to become OpenAI’s exclusive production partner. As for the chip specifications and component supply chain, they are expected to be finalised by the end of 2026 or early 2027.