In a heated exchange that has sparked fresh debate about the future of artificial intelligence, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman confronted investor Brad Gerstner after being pressed on the company’s widening gap between revenue and spending. The tense moment, captured during a recent interview, has gone viral across social media — underscoring the growing friction between investor skepticism and Altman’s trillion-dollar vision.
As reported by Futurism, the confrontation began when Gerstner questioned how a company with roughly $13 billion in annual revenue could commit to $1.4 trillion in spending on AI infrastructure. Altman’s composure cracked. “If you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer. Enough,” he retorted sharply, cutting off the question midstream.
A defensive edge to OpenAI’s bold ambition
The exchange revealed Altman’s increasing irritation at what he perceives as undue alarmism surrounding OpenAI’s finances. “There are a lot of people making noise on Twitter who would love to buy shares,” he added, suggesting that critics were overlooking the company’s long-term growth.
Despite the defensiveness, Altman insisted that OpenAI’s revenues are growing steeply and that the company is “taking a forward bet” on continued expansion through new consumer products, AI cloud services, and scientific automation. However, OpenAI remains a private company and is not required to disclose its exact financials — though reports by Reuters suggest it is already laying the groundwork for an IPO potentially valuing it at up to $1 trillion.
Bubble or breakthrough? Altman admits both
Ironically, Altman’s testy response came just weeks after he publicly conceded that AI is in a bubble. Speaking to journalists in San Francisco earlier this year, he acknowledged that “smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” comparing the current frenzy around AI to the dotcom boom.
Yet, he has remained unapologetic about OpenAI’s aggressive push for scale. “Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money,” he said at the time, “and a lot of people are going to make a phenomenal amount of money.”
According to Futurism, Microsoft’s latest earnings suggest OpenAI lost $11.5 billion last quarter, even as ChatGPT — its flagship product — struggles to convert free users into paying subscribers. Only about five percent of the chatbot’s 800 million active users reportedly pay for premium access.
The trillion-dollar paradox
OpenAI’s valuation has ballooned to nearly $300 billion, and analysts like Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research warn that Altman’s choices could “crash the global economy for a decade or take us all to the promised land.” It is a paradox that defines today’s AI race: vast investments with uncertain returns, all propelled by belief in an eventual technological leap toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Altman himself has framed the spending spree as existential. “If we don’t have the compute,” he said during the same interview, “we will not be able to generate the revenue or make models at this kind of scale.”
Talking more to machines than humans
In a WIRED report from earlier this year, Altman predicted that ChatGPT could soon handle more daily conversations than humans have with each other — a statement both awe-inspiring and unsettling. He has hinted that future versions will be more personalized and contextually aware, capable of adapting to billions of users worldwide.
Still, the optimism comes amid growing doubts about AI’s real-world impact. An MIT study earlier this year found that 95 percent of corporate AI projects are failing to deliver measurable productivity gains, echoing early warnings of a tech bubble ready to burst.
As reported by Futurism, the confrontation began when Gerstner questioned how a company with roughly $13 billion in annual revenue could commit to $1.4 trillion in spending on AI infrastructure. Altman’s composure cracked. “If you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer. Enough,” he retorted sharply, cutting off the question midstream.
A defensive edge to OpenAI’s bold ambition
The exchange revealed Altman’s increasing irritation at what he perceives as undue alarmism surrounding OpenAI’s finances. “There are a lot of people making noise on Twitter who would love to buy shares,” he added, suggesting that critics were overlooking the company’s long-term growth.
Despite the defensiveness, Altman insisted that OpenAI’s revenues are growing steeply and that the company is “taking a forward bet” on continued expansion through new consumer products, AI cloud services, and scientific automation. However, OpenAI remains a private company and is not required to disclose its exact financials — though reports by Reuters suggest it is already laying the groundwork for an IPO potentially valuing it at up to $1 trillion.
Apparently, if you ask @sama how his $13 billion money-losing for profit not-for-profit can support $1.4 TRILLION of spend commitments, he gets very defensive and starts to attack non-existent short sellers.
— Compound248 💰 (@compound248) November 1, 2025
I cannot wait for @OpenAI to be a public company. pic.twitter.com/DTPVJJf86x
Bubble or breakthrough? Altman admits both
Ironically, Altman’s testy response came just weeks after he publicly conceded that AI is in a bubble. Speaking to journalists in San Francisco earlier this year, he acknowledged that “smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” comparing the current frenzy around AI to the dotcom boom.
Yet, he has remained unapologetic about OpenAI’s aggressive push for scale. “Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money,” he said at the time, “and a lot of people are going to make a phenomenal amount of money.”
According to Futurism, Microsoft’s latest earnings suggest OpenAI lost $11.5 billion last quarter, even as ChatGPT — its flagship product — struggles to convert free users into paying subscribers. Only about five percent of the chatbot’s 800 million active users reportedly pay for premium access.
The trillion-dollar paradox
OpenAI’s valuation has ballooned to nearly $300 billion, and analysts like Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research warn that Altman’s choices could “crash the global economy for a decade or take us all to the promised land.” It is a paradox that defines today’s AI race: vast investments with uncertain returns, all propelled by belief in an eventual technological leap toward artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Altman himself has framed the spending spree as existential. “If we don’t have the compute,” he said during the same interview, “we will not be able to generate the revenue or make models at this kind of scale.”
Talking more to machines than humans
In a WIRED report from earlier this year, Altman predicted that ChatGPT could soon handle more daily conversations than humans have with each other — a statement both awe-inspiring and unsettling. He has hinted that future versions will be more personalized and contextually aware, capable of adapting to billions of users worldwide.
Still, the optimism comes amid growing doubts about AI’s real-world impact. An MIT study earlier this year found that 95 percent of corporate AI projects are failing to deliver measurable productivity gains, echoing early warnings of a tech bubble ready to burst.
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