“We have decided that it is time to go make a very aggressive infrastructure bet. I’ve never been more confident in the research roadmap in front of us and also the economic value that will come from using those models,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.
The ChatGPT maker appears to be entering its most ambitious phase yet. Altman made it clear that the company intends to reshape its entire strategy around building the computational capacity needed to power the next generation of AI models, even if that means partnering with potential competitors.
OpenAI’s infrastructure ambition is astounding, with its eyes set on building what could be the largest data centre network in human history. When hosts a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz and general partner Erik Torenberg asked about the scale of this undertaking, Altman acknowledged the sheer magnitude of the challenge ahead. “The scale is sort of ridiculously terrifying enough that you have to be open to doing something else.”
Incidentally, this massive infrastructure is not just about having enormous computational power. It is fundamental to the AI startup’s core mission. Altman explained that research allows them to make great products, and the infrastructure enables them to do the research. In short, infrastructure is the engine that drives both product innovation and breakthrough research.
On questions of why now, the CEO’s response reflected OpenAI’s confidence in what’s coming next. The 40-year-old entrepreneur highlighted the tremendous untapped demand. “We would still expand because we can see how much demand there is; we can’t serve with today’s model. We would not be going this aggressive if all we had was today’s model.”
This confidence seemingly stems from recent breakthroughs in model capabilities. Altman shared that the capability overhang is now so immense that while most of the world still thinks about what ChatGPT can do, there are nerds in Silicon Valley using advanced models who realise, “Those people have no idea what’s going on.”
The company is confident that it can see one to two years into the future with its research roadmap. It firmly believes in the economic value of installing more powerful models that would justify the massive capital expenditure.
OpenAI’s infrastructure stands out particularly owing to its approach to execution. Instead of attempting to build everything alone, Altman has signalled that OpenAI will partner extensively with the broader tech industry. “To make the bet at this scale, we need the whole industry or a big chunk of the industry to support it,” Altman explained. “This is like everything—from electrons to model distribution and all the stuff in between—which is a lot. So we’re going to partner with a lot of people.”
This seems to have translated into recent deals with companies like AMD, Oracle, and Nvidia, firms that are both partners and potential competitors. “You should expect much more from us in the coming months,” Altman said, hinting at an expanding ecosystem of partnerships.
When asked if OpenAI would scale infrastructure endlessly, Altman offered a nuanced response. “There’s totally a limit. There’s some amount of global GDP. There’s some fraction that is knowledge work, and we don’t do robots yet. But the limits are out there, and they’re very far from where we are today.”
OpenAI’s infrastructure ambition demonstrates a fundamental shift in how the company operates. No longer merely a research lab or consumer product company, OpenAI is becoming a massive infrastructure operator, imbibing that the future of AI demands it.
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