I would like to clarify a few important points regarding OpenAI’s approach to infrastructure, government involvement, and our future plans.
**No Government Guarantees for OpenAI Datacenters**
First and foremost, we do not have, nor do we want, government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters. We firmly believe that governments should not pick winners or losers, and taxpayers should not be responsible for bailing out companies that make poor business decisions or lose in the market. If one company fails, other companies will continue to do good work.
That said, we do think it might make sense for governments to build and own their own AI infrastructure. In such cases, the benefits should flow to the government. For example, governments could decide to offtake a large amount of computing power and determine how to use it. In these scenarios, it may be reasonable to provide governments with a lower cost of capital. Building a strategic national reserve of computing power is a sensible initiative—one designed for the government’s benefit, not private companies’.
**Loan Guarantees for Semiconductor Fabs**
The one area where we have discussed loan guarantees is in supporting the buildout of semiconductor fabrication plants (fabs) in the United States. In response to the government’s call, we and several other companies have been willing to help, although we have not formally applied. The goal here is to ensure the chip supply chain is as American as possible, to bring jobs and industrialization back to the U.S., and to enhance the country’s strategic position through an independent supply chain. This benefits all American companies and differs significantly from governments guaranteeing private datacenter buildouts.
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There are at least three “questions behind the question” that understandably cause concern:
### 1. How Will OpenAI Pay for This Infrastructure?
We expect to finish this year with an annualized revenue run rate above $20 billion, and we anticipate growing to hundreds of billions by 2030. We are looking at commitments of approximately $1.4 trillion over the next eight years.
Of course, this requires continued revenue growth—each doubling is a significant challenge—but we feel optimistic. We are particularly excited about our upcoming enterprise offerings, as well as new categories like consumer devices and robotics, which we expect to be very significant. There are also emerging areas difficult to specify now, such as AI-driven scientific discovery, which we will discuss later.
Additionally, we are exploring ways to directly sell compute capacity to other companies and individuals. We are confident the world will need much more “AI cloud,” and we are excited to provide it. Future equity or debt fundraising is also possible. Based on everything we see, the demand for computing power will exceed what we are currently planning.
### 2. Is OpenAI Trying to Become “Too Big to Fail,” and Should the Government Pick Winners and Losers?
Our answer is an unequivocal no. If we make mistakes and cannot fix them, we should fail—and other companies will continue to innovate and serve customers. That is how capitalism works, and the ecosystem and economy will remain resilient.
Our CFO recently spoke about government financing and later clarified her remarks, emphasizing she could have phrased things more clearly. As mentioned, we believe the U.S. government should have a national strategy for its own AI infrastructure.
Tyler Cowen asked me recently about the federal government becoming an insurer of last resort for AI risks—similar to nuclear power, but not related to infrastructure overbuild. I responded that I do think the government will serve as an insurer of last resort, but this is different from how it is typically understood. I do not expect the government to write insurance policies for AI companies, as they do for nuclear power.
What we envision is the government stepping in if something catastrophic occurs—such as a rogue actor using AI to coordinate a large-scale cyberattack that disrupts critical infrastructure. The intentional misuse of AI could cause harm on a scale only the government could address. Again, this context is entirely distinct from datacenter buildout or bailing out private companies.
### 3. Why Invest So Much Now Instead of Growing More Slowly?
We are working to build the infrastructure for a future economy powered by AI. Given what we see on the horizon from our research program, now is the time to invest and rapidly scale our technology. Massive infrastructure projects take years to build, so early action is essential.
Trends in AI usage and demand clearly indicate that the risk of not having enough computing power is both significant and more likely than the risk of having too much. Even today, we and others must rate limit our products and withhold new features and models because compute constraints are so severe.
In a world where AI can enable important scientific breakthroughs but requires tremendous computing power, we want to be ready. We no longer believe this future is distant.
Our mission compels us to advance AI applications for hard problems—like contributing to curing deadly diseases—and to bring the benefits of artificial general intelligence (AGI) to people as soon as possible.
Furthermore, we envision a world with abundant, cheap AI. We expect massive demand for this technology and believe it will improve people’s lives in myriad ways. It is an incredible privilege to be in the arena and to have the conviction to build infrastructure at such a scale for something so important.
This is the bet we are making, and given our perspective, we feel confident. That said, we recognize we could be wrong—and if so, the market, not the government, will address it.
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In summary, OpenAI is committed to responsibly scaling AI infrastructure without relying on government bailouts or guarantees. We welcome government initiatives that serve the public interest, such as building national AI infrastructure or semiconductor fabs, but we believe private companies must succeed or fail on their own merits within the market. Our vision is a future powered by abundant AI that benefits all, and we are investing accordingly to help make that future a reality.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146718/openai-ceo-sam-altman-government-ai
