Sam Altman urges US to expand CHIPS Act tax credit for AI infrastructure

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is pushing the US government to expand a critical tax credit under the CHIPS Act, arguing that it is essential for America to maintain its lead in artificial intelligence (AI).

Altman’s comments come days after OpenAI formally urged the White House to broaden eligibility for the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC).

According to The Telegraph, OpenAI’s global affairs chief Chris Lehane sent a letter on October 27 to Michael Kratsios, the White House’s director of science and technology policy, requesting that AMIC be extended to cover the production of AI servers, AI-specific data centers, and networking components.

The current credit supports domestic semiconductor manufacturing, but Altman says AI infrastructure must be included if the US wants to compete globally.

“We think that reindustrialising the US across the entire sector, factories, turbines, transformers, steel, and much more, will help everyone in our industry and other industries,” Altman wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

However, he emphasised that expanding AMIC is different from loan guarantees for OpenAI itself.

Earlier this week, Altman confirmed that the company had discussed potential federal loan guarantees to support new chip-making facilities in the US, but said these talks did not include funding for data centers.