According to BlockBeats, Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings is in investment talks with Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI. This would mark the first time a state-backed group has invested in OpenAI. Insiders revealed that senior executives from Temasek have met with Altman multiple times in recent months, with preliminary and ongoing discussions taking place, but no agreement on the scale of investment has been reached yet. The negotiations are happening as Altman seeks funding to launch a semiconductor business aimed at reducing reliance on Nvidia-manufactured cutting-edge chips.
Despite significant revenue growth for OpenAI since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Altman stated that the company is still operating at a loss due to the massive costs of building and training its models. Temasek's investment interest reflects its increasingly global footprint over the past decade, with the firm currently holding a $287 billion investment portfolio worldwide, including stakes in some top tech startups. OpenAI is currently backed by $13 billion provided by Microsoft (its largest investor), as well as several venture capital groups such as Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and Andreessen Horowitz.