As investor jitters grow, the loss-making ChatGPT firm’s vast spending commitments test the limits of Silicon Valley optimism
It is the $1.4tn (£1.1tn) question. How can a loss-making startup such as OpenAI afford such a staggering spending commitment?
Answer that positively and it will go a long way to easing investor concerns over bubble warnings in the artificial intelligence boom, from lofty tech company valuations to a mooted $3tn global spend on datacentres.
The company behind ChatGPT needs a vast amount of computing power – or compute, in tech jargon – to train its models, produce their responses and build even more powerful systems in the future. The cost of its compute commitment – the AI infrastructure such as chips and servers that power its world famous chatbot – is $1.4tn over the next eight years, a figure that dwarfs its $13bn in annual revenues.
Over the past week this gap has appeared chasm-like, becoming a backdrop to market nerves over AI spending and statements by OpenAI executives that did little to answer concerns.
