Sam Altman has said OpenAI should never become “too big to fail” and would not seek a government backstop for its debt, as the chief executive attempts to address concerns the start-up’s $1.4tn spending plans could shift massive risks from Silicon Valley investors to US taxpayers.
“If we screw up and can’t fix it, we should fail, and other companies will continue on doing good work and servicing customers. That’s how capitalism works and the ecosystem and economy would be fine,” Altman wrote on X on Thursday.
His lengthy post comes as the ChatGPT maker tried to walk back comments by its chief financial officer on Wednesday which suggested the $500bn start-up was calling for a federal backstop to help finance the development of artificial intelligence chips and infrastructure.