OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has hinted that the company is preparing to move into a new business area that could place it in direct competition with some of the largest cloud service providers in the world. In a recent post on the social media platform X, Altman wrote, “We are also looking at ways to more directly sell compute capacity to other companies and people; we are pretty sure the world is going to need a lot of AI cloud, and we are excited to offer this.” His statement suggests that OpenAI may soon start offering cloud based computing services similar to those provided by Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud.
This development follows comments made earlier by OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar. She noted that cloud providers had been “learning on our dime,” indicating that the company is looking to protect its AI expertise and ensure that advancements it creates do not solely benefit external technology firms.
In a detailed clarification on X, Altman also addressed how OpenAI plans to fund the more than one trillion dollars in AI infrastructure agreements it has signed. One possible solution is to build its own large scale cloud platform. By renting out computing power, AI chips and data center capacity, OpenAI could recover some of its major infrastructure costs more effectively. Altman wrote that current demand signals point to the world needing far more computing power than what is already planned.
This approach is similar to the business models of existing cloud giants. Microsoft, Amazon and Google balance heavy infrastructure spending with revenue from broad cloud adoption. OpenAI currently does not have an equivalent revenue stream, and offering cloud services may help address long term financial questions from investors.
Altman revealed these plans while clarifying comments from Friar regarding the possibility of United States government backed loans for AI companies. At a recent technology event, Friar said the government could “backstop the guarantee that allows the financing to happen,” noting that such support would reduce borrowing costs. Her remarks led to confusion, prompting both leaders to clarify their positions. Altman stated that OpenAI does not “have or want government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters” and that taxpayer money should not be put at risk. Friar later explained that her comments had been misinterpreted and that OpenAI is “not seeking a government backstop.”
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