OpenAI, the artificial intelligence powerhouse led by CEO Sam Altman, has announced a staggering commitment of over $1 trillion for computing infrastructure over the next decade. This tremendous influx of capital is helping to drastically expand the company’s explosive growth. Consequently, its annual revenue has quadrupled to around $13 billion. The revenue Altman is confident that they’re actually bringing in a lot more than that. That’s an indication, for one, that he expects the financial success to continue to grow tremendously.
The company is flying high with profit and triple-digit percentage revenue growth. Industry advocates say that it could reach an astonishing $100 billion by 2028 or 2029. This bullish projection is the opinion of investor Brad Gerstner and reflects the belief that there’s untapped potential on OpenAI’s path moving forward.
While these are all good signs, Altman knows there may be trouble on the horizon. He highlighted that OpenAI’s potential for self-harm was enormous. That’s increasingly the case, particularly if they fail to obtain sufficient computing capacity. This concern only further illustrates the need for ongoing, robust infrastructure investments to help put them on the path to realize their aggressive objectives.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has recently chimed in to call OpenAI’s performance “astounding.” He stressed the point that the company has blown away each and every business plan that Microsoft saw as an investor. Beyond being an important endorsement, this puts more distance between OpenAI and everyone else in the fast growing and competitive AI arms race.
Altman, looking ahead to his company’s future said there are few scenarios under which he would ever take OpenAI public. In response to critics who have expressed doubts about the company’s viability, he stated, “One of the rare times it’s appealing is when those people are writing these ridiculous ‘OpenAI is about to go out of business’ posts.” He taunted them to “go ahead and short the stock” and even hinted that they would be “scorched” for their doubtfulness.
His comments on the computing resources controversy were equal parts funny and frustrating. “First of all, we’re doing well more revenue than that,” he remarked regarding the ongoing conversations about their computing capabilities.
Critics haven’t been shy in their judgment, declaring that “OpenAI is months away from going bankrupt. Altman dismissed these claims, asserting, “No no no, we don’t have anything that specific.”