Sam Altman Shuts Down Rumors: OpenAI Won’t Be Begging for Government Handouts

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman just dropped a truth bomb—no taxpayer-funded lifelines for the AI giant. In an era where tech firms treat public coffers like an ATM, this refusal feels almost rebellious.

The Silicon Valley Standoff

While legacy industries queue up with begging bowls, Altman’s stance cuts through the noise. OpenAI’s revenue streams—not rescue packages—will fuel its AGI ambitions. A refreshing twist in the 'privatize profits, socialize losses' playbook.

VCs exhale, taxpayers shrug

Investors banking on government backstops might need new exit strategies. Meanwhile, crypto natives nod approvingly—decentralized finance never needed bailouts anyway.

Governments should not bail out AI companies

Altman pointed out it may make sense for governments to build and own their own strategic AI infrastructure, and even retain earnings from it. Altman believes governments can achieve the task more cheaply, and FORM a strategic national reserve of computing power. 

Any government data centers should not boost private companies, added Altman in a longer post on X. The comments were a response to the company’s CFO Sarah Friar talking about the case of potential government guarantees or tools for cheaper financing for the AI business. Altman dismissed the call for government involvement and denied any potential for bailouts.

The talk of a bailout has sparked fears that AI may be forming a bubble and may end up causing an even bigger crisis if the companies fail to fulfill their promises.

Sam Altman calls for more AI capacity, domestic supply chains

Altman also suggested the USA may bring back the supply chain of semiconductors to its own territory, avoiding complex purchasing and uncertainty. 

OpenAI aims to finance itself from its revenues, expanding its own compute capacity and selling some of it to third parties. The company expects $20B in revenues for 2025, and up to $1.4T in commitments in the coming decade. 

Altman does not believe any AI company should be bailed out, or turn OpenAI into a too-big-to-fail entity. Instead, he expects AI companies to expand or fail on their own merit. 

He still believes in speeding up the building of data centers, even at the risk of over-capacity, to anticipate bigger demand for AI usage. 

As of October 2025, ChatGPT reports 800M weekly active users, achieving this result in just 35 months. Around 19% of users are from the USA, and 7.9% from India.

The platform expects to reach 1B total users onboarded by the end of the year. ChatGPT also remains the most widely used AI assistant, retaining its market share against other apps.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.