OpenAI CEO Sam Altman just dropped a bombshell: the AI giant is on track to hit $20 billion in annualized revenue this year and expects hundreds of billions by 2030. But there's a catch - the company has already committed to over $1.4 trillion in infrastructure deals, raising serious questions about how it'll finance this unprecedented expansion without seeking government bailouts.
OpenAI just made one of the boldest financial projections in tech history, but it comes with a trillion-dollar question mark. CEO Sam Altman announced Thursday that the company expects to generate more than $20 billion in annualized revenue this year - a massive jump from the $13 billion target CFO Sarah Friar mentioned just two months ago according to CNBC's September coverage.
The revenue surge reflects ChatGPT's meteoric rise since its 2022 launch transformed OpenAI from a nonprofit research lab into what Altman claims will be a hundreds-of-billions company by 2030. But the path there requires an infrastructure investment so massive it's making even Silicon Valley veterans nervous.
OpenAI has committed to more than $1.4 trillion in data center deals - a sum that dwarfs the GDP of most countries. "We are trying to build the infrastructure for a future economy powered by AI," Altman wrote on X, defending the timing. "Massive infrastructure projects take quite awhile to build, so we have to start now."
The announcement comes just days after CFO Sarah Friar sparked a political firestorm by suggesting OpenAI was exploring a federal "backstop" to help finance its chip investments. The comments immediately caught the attention of President Trump's newly appointed AI and crypto czar David Sacks, who fired back Thursday with a blunt message: "no federal bailout for AI."
Friar quickly backtracked, clarifying on LinkedIn that she "muddied the point" and that OpenAI isn't seeking government guarantees. "American strength in technology will come from building real industrial capacity which requires the private sector and government playing their part," she wrote, trying to reframe her earlier comments.
Altman doubled down on the no-bailout stance, stating flatly that OpenAI doesn't "have or want government guarantees." He emphasized that taxpayers shouldn't bail out companies making poor decisions, adding: "If we get it wrong, that's on us."
