On a livestream on Tuesday, Altman claimed OpenAI was committed to developing 30 gigawatts of computing power to run next-generation AI models, valued at $1.4 trillion. He said this would eventually lead to OpenAI deploying a gigawatt of computing power every week.
This is more than three times the computing capacity he claimed was needed for AI, as announced in the $500 billion Stargate project at the start of the year.
Even beyond his previously grandiose claims, this seems hard to fathom. Some of the biggest data centers in some of the largest nations are currently less than a gigawatt in capacity, and each additional gigawatt could cost as much as $40 billion. Altman said these costs would halve over time, but didn't elaborate as to how.
Ultimately, to support this investment, Altman said OpenAI's revenue would need to grow into the range of hundreds of billions a year. Considering OpenAI is currently on track to earn less than $20 billion in 2025, equating to an enormous loss (Microsoft is also poised to lose close to $5 billion on its OpenAI deals in 2025 ), Altman's plans seem somewhat unrealistic.
OpenAI is touting the next great innovation as AI researchers, which it claims will be available at an "intern" level in 2026, and as good as a professional-grade research assistant by 2028. AGI comes after, and superintelligence beyond that.
Even with no one able to agree over what counts as AGI or superintelligence, OpenAI has secured enough funding so that it doesn't look likely to collapse any time soon. The spectre of the AI industry bubble still looms, and until someone can prove how to make any of it profitable, Altman's words remain built on promises.
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Jon Martindale Freelance Writer Jon Martindale is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. For the past 20 years, he's been writing about PC components, emerging technologies, and the latest software advances. His deep and broad journalistic experience gives him unique insights into the most exciting technology trends of today and tomorrow.
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/openais-microsoft-contract-negotiation-is-a-necessary-step-toward-a-future-ipo-altmans-goal-is-to-build-30-gigawatts-of-compute-infrastructure-valued-at-usd1-4-trillion#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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