Altman Eyes Trillion-Dollar AI Future as OpenAI Restructures for Massive Scale

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has laid out an audacious vision: to transform OpenAI into a trillion-dollar company, as his team implements a major restructuring aimed at fueling exponential growth. The move reflects how the [company plans](OpenAI restructuring 2025) to transition from a research lab into a capital-driven, market-scale enterprise.

Altman recently unveiled plans for the company to deploy 30 gigawatts of compute, positioning AI infrastructure as central to its power. Eventually, he said, OpenAI should aim to add 1 gigawatt every week, even though the capital cost per gigawatt currently exceeds $40 billion. The restructuring is meant to streamline operations, enable massive capital raises, and prepare the firm for a likely public listing.

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Ever since ChatGPT exploded into public view, Altman has spoken of OpenAI’s potential to redefine the tech landscape. Under the restructuring, OpenAI is consolidating its governance and operational arms to allow for more aggressive scaling and better access to investment capital.

As part of this, OpenAI plans to launch a foundation structure that will oversee mission commitments, including projects around AI resilience and healthcare. The new structure is designed to give OpenAI flexibility to engage in high-risk, long-term R&D while also operating profitably.

Altman also disclosed that OpenAI is targeting a $20 billion annual revenue run rate by year’s end, though reaching profitability at that scale will require rapid expansion into new markets and consistent monetization of its offerings.

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Ambitious Vision, Big Risks

Altman’s plan is bold—but execution is anything but certain. Key challenges include:

• Massive capital required: Building gigawatt-scale compute infrastructure requires tens of billions in upfront investment, with pressure to show returns rapidly.
• Circular deals scrutiny: The company has entered complex partnerships with public companies like NVIDIA, which some analysts say may obscure real growth or inflate perception of scale.
• Regulatory & safety pressure: As OpenAI expands, it will face more scrutiny over AI safety, ethical deployment, and regulatory compliance across jurisdictions.
• Revenue scaling: Going from tens of billions to hundreds requires sustained adoption across sectors—enterprise, healthcare, governments—with high service reliability and trust.

Yet Altman remains confident aggressive ambition is necessary. “AI is a sport of kings,” he said in a recent livestream, signaling that dominance in infrastructure is now as essential as creating models themselves.