OpenAI’s executives recently responded to rising concerns regarding the company’s financial commitments and potential government bailouts. CEO Sam Altman announced that the U.S. government would not be bailing out AI firms. Most recently, he put a fine point on this in his own statement. OpenAI nonetheless seems to have entered a financial trajectory that is nothing short of remarkable. It projects an annual revenue run rate of $20 billion and anticipates commitments of approximately $1.4 trillion over the next eight years.
Altman’s response on the financial impact of OpenAI’s data center build-outs came during a conversation focused on the company’s unprecedented growth potential. He expressed confidence in OpenAI’s ability to thrive in the competitive AI landscape, noting that the company anticipates significant revenue growth in the coming years. Altman noted that they plan to end this year with an annualized revenue run rate of more than $20 billion. He pointed to their aspiration to grow to hundreds of billions by 2030.
CFO Sarah Friar pointed out that they need a federal backstop to make those investments. In Altman’s defense, he then tried to clarify OpenAI’s position and their predilection for government involvement. He vehemently opposed the idea of going after taxpayer dollars. He continued, “For all clarity, we don’t have and don’t seek government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters. He is a firm believer that governments need to remain neutral in the competitive landscape. As he said, “Taxpayers should not be the ones to bail out companies that enter into poor business decisions or are otherwise unsuccessful in the market.”
Friar eventually had to walk back her original statements to make clear that a federal backstop was not in the works. I was very surprised and disappointed in your testimony. OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for our infrastructure commitments,” she explained, acknowledging that her use of the term “backstop” may have caused confusion.
Amidst these discussions, David Sacks, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist, labeled the notion of taxpayer-funded bailouts for AI companies as “ridiculous.” He largely mirrored Altman’s remarks, noting that the U.S. is home to many of the world’s top frontier model companies. If one does fail, others will be quickly insinuating themselves into the breech.
Subscriber growth OpenAI is doubling down on its three strategic growth verticals — enterprise offerings, consumer devices and robotics. The company is currently utilizing older chips for its projects to keep financing options accessible while aiming to transition its state-of-the-art models onto more advanced chips in the future. Altman emphasized the importance of these strides, especially as it relates to developing semiconductor manufacturing capacity here in the U.S.
For instance, Altman noted that they’ve discussed the need for loan guarantees. This support is intended to help build new semiconductor fabs in the U.S. He noted their enthusiasm to assist with such an effort. He went on to explain that OpenAI hasn’t actually made a formal request for any such guarantees.
The U.S. government has formally declared AI a national strategic asset. This newfound fame came with calls for explicit bailouts for some companies building AI technologies. While conversations remain under way, Altman and Friar don’t waver. They don’t want OpenAI to be subject to any government oversight on how it uses its money.