OpenAI doesn't want a US bailout, Sam Altman says amid fears of an AI bubble

Sam Altman has pushed back at the idea that OpenAI Inc. would seek federal guarantees to reduce the risk of its AI infrastructure spending spree, one day after a top executive at the ChatGPT maker suggested there may be a role for the government to help finance the technology.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says it “might make sense” for governments to build their own AI infrastructure for public benefit. (Reuters)

“We do not have or want government guarantees for OpenAI data centers,” the chief executive officer or the world's highest valued private enterprise wrote on X Thursday. “Taxpayers should not bail out companies that make bad business decisions or otherwise lose in the market.”

Altman said OpenAI has only had discussions about “loan guarantees” about building semiconductor fabrication plants in the US, “where we and other companies have responded to the government’s call”. The US CHIPs Act set aside $39 billion in grants, $75 billion worth of loans and loan guarantees, and 25% tax credits to spur investment in semiconductor factories on US soil. In his post, Altman added: “We did not formally apply.”

In an interview on Wednesday, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said OpenAI is “looking for an ecosystem of banks [and] private equity” to support its ambitious plans. But she also hinted at a role for the US government to “backstop the guarantee that allows the financing to happen,” but did not elaborate on how this would work.

The remarks quickly caught the attention of industry watchers, including White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks. “There will be no federal bailout for AI,” Sacks posted on the social media site X on Thursday. “The US has at least 5 major frontier model companies. If one fails, others will take its place.”

An AI ‘backstop’

Asked for clarification on Wednesday, an OpenAI spokesperson said Friar was speaking in the context of the broader AI industry. There are currently no plans about OpenAI pursuing a federal backstop, the spokesperson said.

Friar also sought to clarify her remarks later. “OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for our infrastructure commitments,” she wrote in a Linkedin post. “I used the word ‘backstop’ and it muddied the point.”

He stressed that OpenAI’s business is growing fast enough to support its infrastructure spending plans over the coming years. He said that OpenAI expects to hit $20 billion in “annualised revenue run rate” by the end of this year and “grow to hundreds of billion by 2030”.

“We are looking at commitments of about $1.4 trillion over the next eight years,” he wrote. “Obviously this requires continued revenue growth, and each doubling is a lot of work! But we are feeling good about our prospects there.”