Sam Altman: OpenAI Will Be Profitable and Self-Funding, Not Seeking Government Guarantees

On November 7th, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly clarified that his company is neither seeking nor expecting the government to provide loan guarantees for OpenAI’s data centers.

Altman stated that the government should not decide which companies are winners or losers, and taxpayers’ money should not be used to rescue companies that make poor business decisions.

This statement was made in response to recent market questions regarding comments from OpenAI’s CFO about the possibility of government financing. Altman emphasized that #OpenAI must be responsible for its own success or failure, saying, “If we mess up and can’t fix it, we should fail—that’s how capitalism works.”

While ruling out the possibility of government guarantees for its projects, Altman proposed an alternative model based on public infrastructure. He believes that, driven by national strategic interests, the government could leverage low capital costs to build large-scale AI infrastructure, with the benefits going to the government rather than private companies.

Beyond clarifying the government’s role, Altman projected that OpenAI’s annual revenue would exceed $20 billion by 2025, reaching hundreds of billions of dollars by 2030. To support this growth, the company plans to invest approximately $1.4 trillion over the next eight years into infrastructure.

These funds will be used to develop the computing power needed for future AI applications and scientific breakthroughs. Altman also mentioned that to sustain revenue growth, OpenAI might raise funds through equity or debt financing.

He further emphasized that OpenAI has only discussed loan guarantees with the U.S. government regarding domestic semiconductor wafer manufacturing (aimed at Americanizing the chip supply chain, bringing back jobs, and strengthening U.S. strategic position). This is entirely different from the government providing guarantees for private, profit-driven data centers.

Altman’s clarification comes shortly after his CFO mentioned government “support” for financing, which raised concerns among investors about a potential AI industry bubble and the prospects of huge investment returns.

On the same day, White House AI and cryptocurrency official David Sacks also stated that “the federal government will not bail out AI,” further clarifying the government’s stance.

In summary, Altman’s statement aims to reassure the market and government that OpenAI is prepared to bear the financial risks associated with its large-scale expansion and to be subject to market scrutiny.