ChatGPT creator, OpenAI, has appointed Adebayo Ogunlesi, a private equity veteran and current CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), to its board, according to a report by Reuters.
Ogunlesi, 71, will provide guidance on securing the necessary infrastructure to support OpenAI’s ongoing artificial intelligence development, according to the company’s statement.
Founded in 2006, GIP is a private equity firm focused on infrastructure, managing over $100bn in assets, including major investments in the UK’s Gatwick airport, the Port of Melbourne, and significant offshore wind projects. Last year, BlackRock acquired GIP for $12.5bn.
AI infrastructure has become a central element in the AI race, as companies’ ability to advance their AI technologies is closely tied to their access to large-scale compute infrastructure. This is achieved through specialised data centers that connect thousands of chips in clusters.
In 2025, major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple are projected to spend over $200bn on capital expenditures – nearly double their spending in 2021, the year before the debut of OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT.
Recently, OpenAI has been urging the US government to adopt favourable regulations to ensure the country remains ahead of China in the AI race.
“There’s an estimated $175bn sitting in global funds awaiting investment in AI projects, and if the US doesn’t attract those funds, they will flow to China-backed projects – strengthening the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence,” the company wrote on Monday in a set of policy proposals.
