The Big Sip
Image: Wired
OpenAI's infrastructure spending raises questions about financial sustainability across the AI industry.
OpenAI announced on 6 October 2025 at DevDay that it has signed approximately $1 trillion in AI infrastructure deals this year with Nvidia, AMD, Oracle, and SoftBank.
CEO Sam Altman said profitability isn't in his "top 10 concerns."
The Magnificent Seven tech companies now comprise 35% of the S&P 500's total value, with Nvidia and Microsoft alone worth $8.1 trillion.
They're funding each other's AI buildouts through interconnected investments that critics call "circular financing."
Will OpenAI's current $4.5 billion revenue run rate (first half 2025) justify the trillion-dollar infrastructure investment before investors demand actual profits?
Will the first partner to question the economics affect the entire AI investment cycle?
[Analysis] TechCrunch, 8 October 2025: Even after Stargate, Oracle, Nvidia, and AMD, OpenAI has more big deals coming soon — Details AMD granting OpenAI up to 10% equity in exchange for chip development partnerships, while Nvidia invests directly in OpenAI as a shareholder, creating cross-ownership where partners are simultaneously investors, customers, and equity holders in each other.
OpenAI raised a trillion dollars by promising everyone they'll get rich selling to each other.