Apple Pulls Funding After OpenAI’s Reported $5 Billion Loss… Sam Altman’s Altruism Story Crumbles

Sam Altman, the babyface behind OpenAI, is having quite the week. Not only is Twitter (sorry, “X”) lighting him up like a Christmas tree.

But news broke that the “non-profit” company he runs is about to hand him a 7% equity stake, and yes, the Senate receipts are coming in hot. Remember when Sam told Congress he wasn’t in this for the money? Yeah, about that…

Turns out that 7% equity could mean a $10 billion payday for Altman. You know, just a small check for the guy who once claimed AI development was all about altruism. “Oh, I’m not in it for the money,” said the man about to swim in his Scrooge McDuck-style vault of gold coins. Sounds a bit like another altruistic figure things didn’t exactly go well for.

(Source: New Statesman)

Let’s rewind for a second. OpenAI started off as a non-profit back in 2015. Fast forward a few years, and their ChatGPT creation, caused everyone from Google to your grandma to freak out about robots taking over. But with those innovations comes the price tag—and we’re not talking chump change. 

OpenAI is expected to lose a staggering $5 billion this year, despite pulling in $3.7 billion in revenue. Yep, you read that right. They’re losing more than they’re making, even though they generated $300 million last month alone. For context, that’s a 1,700% increase from the start of 2023.

But things are not going great at OpenAI. This week alone, three major execs—CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and Research VP Barret Zoph—handed in their “see ya later” cards. And let’s not forget earlier departures from co-founders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, who apparently figured out that “new opportunities” (aka jumping ship) sounded better than sticking around for whatever’s coming next at OpenAI.

Meanwhile, Apple quietly backed out of OpenAI’s latest funding round. It seems Tim Cook might not have been sold on the numbers, especially with OpenAI projecting a hefty $5 billion loss this year. While Apple decided to sit this one out, Microsoft, already $13 billion deep, and Nvidia are still hanging in there, probably for the "greater good"—you know, like Sam Altman keeps saying. Because clearly, they’re not in it for the money either... right?

Speaking of fundraising, OpenAI’s latest round is expected to bring in $6.5 billion, valuing the company at a sky-high $150 billion. That’s more than Ford, Target, and American Express. 

Now, if you’re wondering how OpenAI plans to dig itself out of this $5 billion hole, the answer is more growth. The company predicts it’ll rake in $11.6 billion next year, which, if accurate, is a massive leap from where they are now. But hey, who needs profitability when you’ve got momentum, right?

Oh, and in case you’re keeping track, Elon Musk is not impressed. In a series of X posts, Musk took a break from running Tesla and launching rockets to throw some serious shade at Altman. He called him “Little Finger,” referencing the master manipulator from Game of Thrones..

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