BENGALURU - Singapore’s Temasek is in discussions to invest in Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI, The Financial Times reported on March 5, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Senior executives at Singapore’s state investment firm have met the ChatGPT maker’s chief executive, Mr Sam Altman, multiple times in recent months, according to the report.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment, while Temasek declined to comment on the report.

Temasek was interested in investing in Mr Altman’s venture capital fund Hydrazine Capital at first, but recent talks included the AI non-profit, the FT reported, citing a separate source.

The deal with Temasek is the first since reports surfaced last month that OpenAI’s Altman was looking to raise about US$5 trillion (S$6.7 trillion) to US$7 trillion for a network of AI chip factories.

AI start-ups attracted one out of every three dollars invested last year in the United States, as OpenAI’s ChatGPT grabbed the spotlight and start-ups raced to develop AI technology.

The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022 brought attention to generative AI technologies, spurring billions in investments in chips and servers required to support the adoption of such applications.

Some of OpenAI’s investors excluding Microsoft, which is its largest, include Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.

OpenAI completed a deal to sell existing shares in a tender offer that valued the AI company at US$80 billion or more, The New York Times reported last month, citing people with knowledge of the deal.

Temasek is an active investor in the tech sector with a portfolio valued at $382 billion, as of March 31, 2023.

Some of the companies in the portfolio include Roblox, Tencent and Alibaba. REUTERS