OpenAI's $1.4 Trillion Vision: Altman Unveils Massive AI Infrastructure Plans Amid Corporate Restructuring

Sam Altman Confronts Backlash Over GPT-5 Rollout, Unveils Expanding Vision During AMA - Decrypt

OpenAI's $1.4 trillion build-out and new foundation will fund AI-driven science and resilience projects. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman faced users on Tuesday, answering questions in a live AMA that combined apologies with a sweeping blueprint for the company's future. During the AMA, Altman acknowledged missteps in how OpenAI handled the recent transition from GPT-4o to its latest model GPT-5 in August. He apologized for poor communication around safety filters, and pledged to give verified adults more control over what their AI can say. "If this is going to be a platform that people everywhere can build on, use, and create with, we know they'll have very different needs and desires," Altman said. "There will, of course, be some broad limits, but we want users to have real control and customization over how they use it." Altman's contrition soon gave way to ambition, however. In the same session where he apologized for bungling the GPT-5 rollout, he sketched an ambitious transformation of OpenAI's structure and scale that dwarfed the controversy. The new OpenAI Foundation now controls the for-profit OpenAI Group and will channel roughly $130 billion in equity toward scientific and humanitarian projects. Altman also detailed OpenAI's deepening alliance with Microsoft -- extended through 2032 and valued at about $135 billion -- cementing the two firms' shared dominance over frontier models. And behind it all looms a $1.4 trillion computing build-out: the so-called "Stargate" data-center network that Altman said will eventually churn out a gigawatt of AI compute every week. During the AMA, Altman acknowledged that his earlier comments on content moderation had sparked confusion, admitting that using 'erotica' as an example to illustrate OpenAI's stance on user freedom was a mistake. In August, OpenAI said it will allow ChatGPT to generate erotic content for verified adults starting in December, shifting away from the company's historically restrictive approach to sexual content. "I thought there was a clear difference between erotica and porn bots," he said. "In any case, the point we were trying to make is that people need flexibility, they want to use these things in different ways, and we want to treat adult users like adults in our own first-party services." He said the new "adult mode" would relax moderation limits for verified users while maintaining protections for minors and people in mental-health crises. "As we build age verification in, and as we can differentiate users in crisis from users who are not, we want to give people more freedom," he said. "That's one of our platform principles." Beyond policy, Altman described the company's long-term research strategy: progressing from today's large-language models toward an AI research assistant capable of reasoning and discovering new scientific knowledge while remaining safe and interpretable. "We think it's plausible that by 2026 models begin to make small discoveries," he said. "By 2028, medium or maybe even larger ones." Altman said OpenAI's products were evolving from a single chatbot to a broader AI platform that others could build upon, pointing to users employing GPT-5 in areas like science, engineering, and design. "You know you've built a platform when there's more value created by people building on it than by the platform builder," he said. He also reaffirmed OpenAI's belief in user privacy, acknowledging that people now share deeply personal information with AI systems. "They're talking to it like they would to their doctor, lawyer, or spouse," he said. "That makes privacy protections -- both technical and policy -- especially important." Altman also acknowledged that the recent 4o-to-5 upgrade had been rocky for some users, especially writers and creative professionals. "We definitely learned things about the 4o-to-5 upgrade," he said. "We'll try to do much better in the future, both about continuity and about making sure the model gets better for most users, not just for people using AI for science or coding." During the AMA, Altman also addressed the future of earlier GPT models, saying that they would not be open-sourced -- calling them too large and inefficient -- but might be released "as museum artifacts." He promised continued transparency around safety standards and said future AMA sessions would be part of a broader effort to communicate "how and why" OpenAI's systems behave as they do. The AMA coincided with the unveiling of a new organizational structure and dual governance model. The OpenAI Foundation, a nonprofit, now controls the for-profit OpenAI Group, a public benefit corporation. The foundation holds about 26% of the company's equity -- worth roughly $130 billion -- and will fund projects that use AI for the public good. OpenAI also announced an expanded long-term partnership with Microsoft. The new agreement gave Microsoft a 27% stake in OpenAI Group, valued at around $135 billion, and extended its exclusive rights to OpenAI's frontier models through 2032. The deal allows Microsoft to pursue AGI research independently, while OpenAI can release select open-weight models and partner with outside developers. OpenAI is also committed to purchasing $250 billion in additional Azure cloud services. During the livestream, Altman also detailed the massive infrastructure projects, including committing more than $1.4 trillion in financial obligations toward a 30-gigawatt computing build-out, including its first "Stargate" data-center complex in Abilene, Texas. He said the company eventually hopes to build an "infrastructure factory" capable of producing one gigawatt of compute per week. "Our goal is to build what we call an infrastructure factory -- able to turn out about a gigawatt of compute every week," Altman said. "We want to drive the cost down to roughly $20 billion per gigawatt over a five-year cycle. That's going to take major innovation, deep partnerships, and a lot of revenue growth."

Sam Altman touts trillion-dollar AI vision as OpenAI restructures to chase scale

Altman envisions OpenAI becoming a massive AI infrastructure powerhouse, pursuing trillions in funding, huge compute expansion, and an eventual IPO. Despite bold plans, unclear financing, internal strife, and criticism raise doubts as OpenAI shifts from research lab to ambitious corporate giant. Soon after ChatGPT was released to the public in late 2022, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees they were on the cusp of a new technological revolution. OpenAI could soon become "the most important company in the history of Silicon Valley," Altman said, according to two former OpenAI employees. There is no shortage of ambition in the US tech industry. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos often speak of transforming the world. Tesla head Elon Musk aims to colonize Mars. Even by those standards, Altman's aspirations stand out. After reaching a deal with Microsoft on Tuesday that removes limits on how OpenAI raises money, Altman laid out even more ambitious plans to build AI infrastructure to meet growing demand. The restructuring marks a pivotal moment for OpenAI, cementing its transition from a research-focused lab into a corporate giant structured to raise vast sums of public capital, eventually through a stock market listing. On a livestream on Tuesday, Altman said OpenAI was committed to developing 30 gigawatts of computing resources for $1.4 trillion. Eventually, he said he would like OpenAI to be able to add 1 gigawatt of compute every week - an astronomical sum given that each gigawatt currently comes with a capital cost of more than $40 billion. Altman said over time, capital costs could halve, without saying how. "AI is a sport of kings," said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson. "Altman understands that to compete in AI he will need to achieve a much bigger scale than OpenAI currently operates at." But Altman has offered few details on how he might accomplish his biggest ideas. Altman has previously said OpenAI is exploring a range of creative financing options. The company also has struck a series of unusual, seemingly circular deals with public companies like Nvidia. The transactions have drawn criticism that they create the illusion of more growth than is realistic, raising the specter of an AI bubble. Trillions of dollars needed In January, Altman flew to the White House to announce Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure project the company is working on with Oracle, SoftBank, Nvidia and cloud provider CoreWeave. Standing next to US President Donald Trump, who he had once criticized as "irresponsible", Altman said the initiative would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. "We wouldn't be able to do this without you, Mr. President," he said. At the time, Altman said Stargate would build 10 GW of data center capacity, which has now tripled as per his comments on Tuesday. Those plans are just the start, Altman said. To support the massive investment, he said, "eventually we need to get to hundreds of billions a year in revenue." That would require OpenAI - expected to hit an annual run rate of $20 billion in revenue by year-end - to grow at 10 times its current pace. The newly formed OpenAI Foundation will direct the company's mission and use its resources to use AI to help cure diseases and a new initiative to fund "AI resilience," OpenAI said, although it is unclear where the loss-making company will find the money. Path to IPO ChatGPT sparked the AI craze, forcing Big Tech to spend billions of dollars to keep up. Altman has since steered OpenAI from a nonprofit devoted to AI research to a $500 billion company that is trying to develop AI systems so powerful they could fundamentally alter society. Altman, who briefly contemplated a run for California governor in 2017, does not hold equity in OpenAI and earns just $76,000 a year from the company. The bulk of his net worth comes from his investments in major tech companies, including Stripe, Airbnb and, more recently, a litany of startups seeking to make money on the AI boom sparked by OpenAI. Even in his 20s, he was a force. In 2008, Paul Graham, who founded Y Combinator, summed up a then 23-year-old Altman: "You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in five years and he'd be the king." Altman, now 40, succeeded Graham as the startup accelerator's president in 2014. Tuesday's restructuring news, along with Altman's comment that an initial public offering is the most likely path for OpenAI, suggests Altman is readying to finance his grander ambitions. In pursuit of his goals, Altman has made a few enemies, including billionaire Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and early backer who left the company in 2018. Musk has sued OpenAI, saying it strayed from its nonprofit mission. He has also criticized the Stargate project as lacking funding. This spring, several former OpenAI employees supported Musk's lawsuit, arguing that Altman could not be trusted to prioritize public safety over profits. Two years ago, Altman was ousted from OpenAI after falling out with the board. He was reinstated a few days later. That period will be the subject of a Hollywood movie, "Artificial", which is scheduled for release next year. Actor Andrew Garfield, who played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network," will star as Altman, IMDb says.

Altman touts trillion-dollar AI vision as OpenAI restructures to chase scale

SAN FRANCISCO -Soon after ChatGPT was released to the public in late 2022, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees they were on the cusp of a new technological revolution. OpenAI could soon become "the most important company in the history of Silicon Valley," Altman said, according to two former OpenAI employees who heard his remarks. There is no shortage of ambition in the U.S. tech industry. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos often speak of transforming the world. Tesla head Elon Musk aims to colonize Mars. Even by those standards, Altman's aspirations stand out. After reaching a deal with Microsoft on Tuesday that removes limits on how OpenAI raises money, Altman laid out even more ambitious plans to build out AI infrastructure to meet growing demand for tools powered by AI. On a livestream on Tuesday, Altman said OpenAI was committed to developing 30 gigawatts of computing resources for $1.4 trillion. Eventually, he said he would like OpenAI to be able to add 1 gigawatt of compute every week - an astronomical sum given that each gigawatt currently comes with a capital cost of more than $40 billion. Altman said over time, capital costs could halve, without saying how. "AI is a sport of kings," said Gil Luria, an analyst at D.A. Davidson. "Altman understands that to compete in AI he will need to achieve a much bigger scale than OpenAI currently operates at." But Altman has offered few details on how he might accomplish his biggest ideas. Altman has previously said OpenAI is exploring a range of creative financing options. OpenAI also has struck a series of unusual, seemingly circular deals with public companies like Nvidia. The transactions have drawn criticism that they create the illusion of more growth than is realistic, raising the specter of an AI bubble. TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS NEEDED In January, Altman flew to the White House to announce Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure project the company is working on with Oracle, SoftBank, Nvidia and cloud provider CoreWeave. Standing next to U.S. President Donald Trump, who he had once criticized as "irresponsible", Altman said the initiative would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. "We wouldn't be able to do this without you, Mr. President," he said. At the time, Altman said Stargate would build 10 GW of data center capacity, which has now tripled as per his comments on Tuesday. Those plans are just the start, Altman said. To support the massive investment, he said, "eventually we need to get to hundreds of billions a year in revenue." That would require OpenAI - expected to hit an annual run rate of $20 billion in revenue by year-end - to grow at 10 times its current pace. PATH TO IPO ChatGPT sparked the AI craze, forcing Big Tech to spend billions of dollars to keep up. Altman has since steered OpenAI from a nonprofit devoted to AI research to a $500 billion company that is trying to develop AI systems so powerful they could fundamentally alter society. Altman, who briefly contemplated a run for California governor in 2017, does not hold equity in OpenAI and earns just $76,000 a year from the company. The bulk of his net worth comes from his investments in major tech companies, including Stripe, Airbnb and, more recently, a litany of startups seeking to make money on the AI boom sparked by OpenAI. Even in his 20s, he was a force. In 2008, Paul Graham, who founded Y Combinator, summed up a then 23-year-old Altman: "You could parachute him into an island full of cannibals and come back in five years and he'd be the king." Altman, now 40, succeeded Graham as the startup accelerator's president in 2014. Tuesday's restructuring news, along with Altman's comment that an initial public offering is the most likely path for OpenAI, suggests Altman is readying to finance his grander ambitions. In pursuit of his goals, Altman has made a few enemies, including billionaire Musk, an OpenAI co-founder and early backer who left the company in 2018. Musk has sued OpenAI, saying it has digressed from its nonprofit goals of developing AI for humanity. He has also criticized the Stargate project as lacking funding. This spring, several former OpenAI employees supported Musk's lawsuit, arguing that Altman could not be trusted to prioritize public safety over profits. Two years ago, Altman was ousted from OpenAI after falling out with the board. He was reinstated a few days later. That period will be the subject of a Hollywood movie, "Artificial", which is scheduled for release next year. Actor Andrew Garfield, who played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network," will star as Altman, IMDb says. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Jamie Freed)