OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has embarked on a global fundraising initiative spanning East Asia and the Middle East, seeking financing and manufacturing partners to meet the company's demand for its computing capacity, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the meetings.

Altman has held discussions since late September in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan with major suppliers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Foxconn, Samsung, and SK Hynix to boost AI chip production and secure top-priority orders for OpenAI, the report said.

Altman was pushing these companies to increase production capacity and give priority to OpenAI's orders, the newspaper added.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Microsoft, TSMC, Foxconn, Samsung and SK Hynix couldn'

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