Sam Altman’s Stalled Rocket Ambitions and OpenAI’s ’Code Red’
Sam Altman's near-billion-dollar play to challenge SpaceX unraveled as OpenAI shifted focus to its Core AI business. The OpenAI CEO had explored strategic investments in rocket startup Stoke Space, with discussions progressing toward a potential majority stake. Those plans collapsed amid OpenAI's mounting financial pressures—including undisclosed computing contracts worth hundreds of billions.
The retreat coincides with OpenAI declaring a 'code red' to salvage ChatGPT's eroding market share against Google's Gemini. Internal resources are being reallocated from projects like space-based data centers to emergency chatbot upgrades. Altman's vision of orbiting server farms—once pitched as a solution to AI's energy demands—now appears shelved indefinitely.
