"Government-backed AI" comments provoke concerns! OpenAI urgently clarifies: OpenAI does not need taxpayers to foot the bill. Trillion-dollar investment relies on revenue.

A day after a senior executive at OpenAI hinted that the government may need to provide funding support for artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the CEO of the company, Sam Altman, refuted the idea of seeking federal guarantees to reduce the risk of high expenditures on AI infrastructure. Altman wrote in a lengthy social media post on Thursday, "OpenAI's data centers do not and do not need government-backed guarantees. Taxpayers should not foot the bill for companies' operational mistakes or failures in market competition." Altman stated that OpenAI had only discussed the issue of "loan guarantees" in relation to building semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the United States, saying, "We responded to the government's call like other companies." It is understood that the US "CHIPs Act" allocates $39 billion in subsidies, provides $75 billion in loans and guarantees, and offers a 25% tax credit to incentivize investment in local semiconductor factories. However, Altman emphasized in the post, "We have not formally submitted an application." In order to develop more advanced AI systems and promote technological advancement, OpenAI plans to invest $1.4 trillion in building data centers and chips. Such a significant financial commitment has once again raised concerns about an AI bubble as OpenAI is still operating at a loss. Sarah Friar, the CFO of OpenAI, mentioned in an interview on Wednesday that the company is seeking to establish an ecosystem of "banks, private equity, and others" to support its grand plans. She also hinted that the US government could act as a "guarantor" to facilitate financing, but did not provide detailed specifics on how this would work. The remarks quickly caught the attention of industry observers, and David Sax, White House official in charge of AI and cryptocurrency affairs, promptly stated on social media X, "The federal government will not bail out AI, the US has at least 5 large leading model companies, even if one falls, other companies will take its place." In response to inquiries, a spokesperson for OpenAI clarified on Wednesday that Friar was speaking from the perspective of the entire AI industry and that the company currently has no immediate plans to seek federal guarantees. Friar later corrected her statement on the LinkedIn platform, saying, "OpenAI did not seek government guarantees for infrastructure investment, my use of the term 'backing' created a misunderstanding." Altman pointed out in the post that it may be reasonable for the government to build its own AI infrastructure for public benefit, and within this framework, the government could participate by "subscribing" to large amounts of computing power and "providing low-cost funding," among other ways. However, he did not specify how the government would provide low-cost funding support. Altman emphasized that the pace of OpenAI's business growth is sufficient to support its infrastructure spending plans for the next few years. He stated that the company expects its "annual revenue run rate" to reach $20 billion by the end of this year, and to grow to several hundred billion dollars by 2030. "We plan to invest approximately $1.4 trillion over the next 8 years," he wrote. "Clearly, this requires continuous revenue growth, and each doubling requires a tremendous effort! But we are confident in the prospects."