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- OpenAI and AMD just signed a multibillion-dollar deal for 6 gigawatts of compute.
- OpenAI and Nvidia signed a 10-gigawatt deal just last week.
- The onslaught of new deals highlights the increasing strain AI is putting on the electric grid.
If OpenAI wants to win the AI race, it may need to bring its own power supply.
The ChatGPT maker has signed a multibillion-dollar partnership deal with AMD to deploy 6 gigawatts of the semiconductor company’s artificial intelligence chips. Just last week, OpenAI and chip designer Nvidia announced a deal for 10 gigawatts of computing power.
OpenAI has said that it desperately needs access to more compute in order to realize its ambitious growth strategy, but its recent chip deals have begotten another crucial need: more power.
In the US, the AI race has strained the electric grid to a near-breaking point. Utilities are reporting the need for about 60 gigawatts of new power, or six large cities’ worth, by the end of the decade. It can take years of planning and regulatory hearings for power companies to bring new infrastructure online.
With the rapid pace of new chip announcements, experts say it is becoming increasingly necessary for data centers to bypass public utilities and start providing their own power.
“The industry in general has known for years now that we’re bumping up against grid capacity,” said Sean Farney, vice president of data center strategy for the Americas at Jones Lang Lasalle. “To win in this game, they need to be innovative and release these self-generating solutions.”
OpenAI is already supplying its data center in Abilene, Texas, part of the Stargate project, with power via an on-site natural gas plant.
Elon Musk is providing power to an xAI data center in Memphis with mobile natural gas turbines and has purchased the site of a former gas plant in Mississippi.
A spokesperson for AMD confirmed the 6 gigawatts of compute announced Monday is incremental to what OpenAI has previously announced. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
The five-year deal is structured to incentivize both companies to perform. OpenAI will receive warrants for up to 160 million AMD shares, or about 1% of the company, with groups of shares awarded for each gigawatt deployed.
The first gigawatt is expected to start coming online in the second half of 2026, AMD CEO Lisa Su said Monday on a conference call with investors.
She added that the timeline for deploying all 6 gigawatts will depend on when and how OpenAI and AMD can access enough power.
“The idea would be to deploy as soon as we can, ” said Su.
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