5 ms·

OpenAI boss Sam Altman wants $7T. For all our sakes, pray he doesn't get it

39 points by sandebert 3y ago

Human-Cabbage 3y ago
This is the second time I've seen $7T referenced without a clear citation. Is this just rhetorical or did Sam Altman actually say it somewhere?
- SheinhardtWigCo 3y ago
  WSJ got it from an anonymous source. Could just be an attempt to anchor the valuation of OpenAI.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
jessenaser 3y ago
If it really only takes 20B/fab, workers, and water, then the USA is a few government contracts away (easily explainable in military budget ;) ) from leading semiconductor manufacturing by passing a New New-Deal program and building fabs near the Great Lakes and two Coasts. Only problem is will.
- chatmasta 3y ago
  > Only problem is will. We'd also need to staff each fab site with a sufficient number of experts to run the site. I'm not sure how many of those people exist in the world, but I'd bet it's a low number and most of them currently live in Taiwan.
  - horeszko 3y ago
    IMO the US is off to a good start on re-industrialization, however like you allude to lack of trained personnel will be an issue. Re-industrialization will be a multi-decade endeavour.
artninja1988 3y ago
"if you need $7T to make progress on ai, you probably don't have the right architecture"
Mangachan49 3y ago
I'm all for funding fabs and competitors against nvidia for chips, even for 7T, but obviously not one person should be in charge of it
EchoChamberMan 3y ago
Related but flagged? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365132
rasz 3y ago
Maybe he could settle for $100B, I know someone with exemplar track record when it comes to losin^^^investing https://www.reuters.com/technology/softbanks-son-is-seeking-about-100-bln-ai-chip-venture-bloomberg-news-2024-02-16/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/softbanks-son-is-seeking-...
gorjusborg 3y ago
where does the idea that democracy only works with a growing economy? first time i've heard that, and it doesn't seem right.
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  It's definitely something Thiel imparted into him. That kind of phrase is something Thiel has been hammering for awhile.

39 points by sandebert 3y ago

This is the second time I've seen $7T referenced without a clear citation. Is this just rhetorical or did Sam Altman actually say it somewhere?

SheinhardtWigCo 3y ago
WSJ got it from an anonymous source. Could just be an attempt to anchor the valuation of OpenAI.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

jessenaser 3y ago

If it really only takes 20B/fab, workers, and water, then the USA is a few government contracts away (easily explainable in military budget ;) ) from leading semiconductor manufacturing by passing a New New-Deal program and building fabs near the Great Lakes and two Coasts. Only problem is will.

chatmasta 3y ago
> Only problem is will. We'd also need to staff each fab site with a sufficient number of experts to run the site. I'm not sure how many of those people exist in the world, but I'd bet it's a low number and most of them currently live in Taiwan.
- horeszko 3y ago
  IMO the US is off to a good start on re-industrialization, however like you allude to lack of trained personnel will be an issue. Re-industrialization will be a multi-decade endeavour.

artninja1988 3y ago

"if you need $7T to make progress on ai, you probably don't have the right architecture"

Mangachan49 3y ago

I'm all for funding fabs and competitors against nvidia for chips, even for 7T, but obviously not one person should be in charge of it

EchoChamberMan 3y ago

Related but flagged? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39365132

rasz 3y ago

Maybe he could settle for $100B, I know someone with exemplar track record when it comes to losin^^^investing https://www.reuters.com/technology/softbanks-son-is-seeking-about-100-bln-ai-chip-venture-bloomberg-news-2024-02-16/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/softbanks-son-is-seeking-...

gorjusborg 3y ago

where does the idea that democracy only works with a growing economy? first time i've heard that, and it doesn't seem right.

reducesuffering 3y ago
It's definitely something Thiel imparted into him. That kind of phrase is something Thiel has been hammering for awhile.