OpenAI, the research firm co-founded by Elon Musk, is reportedly losing a remarkable amount of money on the groundbreaking ChatGPT chatbot. According to people close to the company, OpenAI devoted more than $540 million to the development of the immensely popular AI solution in 2020. The costliness of the AI tool’s operations and upkeep is evident.
Fortunately, OpenAI does have considerable backing from tech giant Microsoft, who struck a multi-year and multi-billion-dollar deal with the firm at the begining of 2021 . However, comments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman suggests that these costs are still on the rise. Altman has even mentioned that the company may become “the most capital-intensive startup in Silicon Valley history”.
In 2021, the company’s expenses totaled around $544.5 million: $416.45 million on computing and data, $89.31 million on employees, and $38.75 million on other operating expenses. Because of the sheer enormity of these costs, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly suggested that a $100 billion investment could be needed to succeed in the firm’s goal of creating ‘artificial general intelligence’. According to the latest figures, this could be the most expensive startup ever in Silicon Valley.
OpenAI is the celebrated research firm identified with tech mogul Elon Musk. It’s ambitious mission is to build ‘friendly AI’, which implies the development of artificial general intelligence through the use of powerful AI bots and software services.
CEO Sam Altman is an accomplished entrepreneur and investor, in addition to being Google’s former head of corporate development and an early investor in Airbnb. Prior to taking up the role of CEO at OpenAI, Sam Altman led Y Combinator, one of the world’s most successful business incubators. His leadership has been credited with the company’s achievements so far and the development of ChatGPT.
