Alright, so Altman's out there tweeting again. This time, it's about OpenAI maybe, maybe getting into the cloud game. "AI cloud," he calls it. Sounds like something a marketing drone would come up with, doesn't it? Like "cloud shoes" or "cloud couch"... Wait, are those actual products? Don't tell me.
The real question isn't the stupid name, it's how the hell OpenAI plans to pay for all this AI infrastructure they're supposedly building. We're talking over a trillion dollars, people. A trillion! Where's that kind of money even come from? Magic internet fairy dust?
Altman seems to think the answer is to become a cloud provider, like Amazon or Microsoft. Rent out all those fancy GPUs and networking gear they're buying up. On the one hand, it's the obvious move. On the other hand...is it just me, or does this sound insane?
I mean, let's be real. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure – these guys have been doing this for years. They've got the infrastructure, the expertise, and the customer base. What's OpenAI got? A bunch of hyped-up AI models and a CEO who seems to think he can disrupt anything with a tweet?
Sarah Friar, OpenAI's CFO, apparently hinted at this back in September, complaining that cloud providers have been "learning on our dime." Okay, fair point. But turning around and trying to compete with them? That's like complaining about getting rained on and then deciding to build your own weather system. Good luck with that.
The article brings up Meta as a counterpoint. Zuck's spending billions on infrastructure too, but without a cloud service to recoup the costs. That's why Meta's stock is tanking, supposedly. But here's the thing: Meta's got users. Billions of 'em. They might not be paying directly for cloud services, but they're generating data and engagement that Meta can monetize in other ways. OpenAI? They're selling AI access, which is great, but is it enough to justify a trillion-dollar investment?
Maybe OpenAI sees a way to offer something different. An "AI cloud" that's specifically optimized for, well, AI. But who are they selling to? Other AI startups? Big companies who don't want to be locked into AWS or Azure? It's a gamble, that's for sure.
And let's not forget the competition. Google, Microsoft, and Amazon ain't exactly slouches when it comes to AI. They're all building their own AI models and integrating them into their cloud services. What makes OpenAI think they can compete on that front? Maybe their models are just that much better? Or maybe... Nah, I don't even know.
Offcourse, maybe I'm just being a grumpy old cynic. Maybe OpenAI really can pull this off. Maybe they'll revolutionize the cloud industry and make everyone else look like dinosaurs. But I doubt it. I really, really doubt it.
