Sam Altman, CEO and founder of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, stated on November 6 that the company is not seeking loan guarantees from the U.S. government for its data center projects. He emphasized that if large-scale AI infrastructure investments fail to deliver expected returns, market mechanisms—not government bailouts—should correct the situation. This statement comes as investor concerns grow over the return cycles of AI industry investments, with tech companies heavily investing in data centers, chips, and AI infrastructure without clear profitability paths yet.
Altman posted on social media platform X that OpenAI expects annualized revenue to exceed $20 billion by year-end, with plans to achieve "hundreds of billions" in revenue by 2030. He added that the company is considering $1.4 trillion in AI infrastructure investments over the next eight years. OpenAI is aggressively expanding data center construction and collaborating with chipmakers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to secure computing power for large model training.
"If we mess up and can't fix it, we'll fail, and other companies will continue serving customers. The ecosystem and economy will be fine," Altman said. "Given our strong position, we feel good. But we could be wrong—and if we are, the market, not the government, will handle it."
Altman also discussed OpenAI's exploration of an "AI cloud" business model, selling computing power as a service to enterprises and individuals. This signals a shift from model output to infrastructure provision, putting OpenAI in direct competition with traditional cloud computing giants.
Rumors had circulated that OpenAI might seek U.S. government loan guarantees to support its AI data center and semiconductor expansion. Altman denied this, clarifying that the company neither seeks government support nor relies on public funds for AI infrastructure. While internal discussions included loan guarantees as a "potential pathway" to expand U.S. chip production, no formal proposal was made.
"Taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for data center projects or poor business decisions," Altman stressed. Earlier that day, David Sacks, White House advisor on AI and cryptocurrency, also stated that the U.S. would not provide federal-level bailouts for the AI industry, emphasizing that market forces—not public resources—should bear investment risks.