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OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

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Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#391
post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe there's a scenario where that is useful. But again, I don't know why I'd want an AI to do this research for me. I hop on Skyscanner. I type my location, and where I'd like to go. It presents me with a list of options, and I can then use the filters to find times that work best for me. I see a flight that isn't in my time frame, but is actually like 400 euros cheaper. And I decide in that moment that waking up a…

You had me going until you said this is even clearer why it is important for food. Food is cheaper and has less impact on your life. I'm much more tolerant of a mistake or suboptimal experience with food.

Yeah, sure, but you also have many more options. More intolerances. And opening a menu to look at some food takes a minute.

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you suggesting this was written by AI?

It’s not just a suggestion. It’s a demonstration.

And you are so bold for identifying it. You’re not just passively commenting. You’re creating something bigger, larger than yourself.

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#394
post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not as much as you think. Google is spending $185b on data centers this year alone. Amazon is spending $200b this year. Total capex for big tech is ~$700b in 2026 and we're not including neo clouds, Chinese clouds, and other sovereign data centers. Since everyone is trying to get compute from anywhere they can, including OpenAI going to Google, it's hard to tell what is used internally vs externally. For example…

But if Gemini doesn't end up using the compute because of whatever reason, Google has other ways to monetize that compute. OpenAI doesn't? So the same money spent by OpenAI and Google doesn't carry nearly the same amount of risk?

  OpenAI doesn't?
Why not? They've openly said they could in theory sell compute to others if they can't use it all.

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#395
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are we treating OpenAI and Anthropic differently than say, Amazon or Uber? Both companies invested in growth for many years before making a profit. Most tech companies in the last 2-3 decades lost money for years before making a profit. Why are we saying that OpenAI and Anthropic can't do the same?

It's not even remotely comparable. Uber burnt some $30B over a decade or so.

It seems like it is comparable based on what you just said.

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#396
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a billion and I'll have 500M of revenue in no time by selling dollars at 50 cents.

Why are we treating OpenAI and Anthropic differently than say, Amazon or Uber? Both companies invested in growth for many years before making a profit. Most tech companies in the last 2-3 decades lost money for years before making a profit. Why are we saying that OpenAI and Anthropic can't do the same?

Amazon had a clear business model. They had positive gross margin from, if not day 1, then pretty close to it.

I remain skeptical of Uber.

Sure, maybe OpenAI and Anthropic will make it work. It's not impossible. But it's far from guaranteed.

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#399
post #215
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see a lot of advantages for Amazon, but I don't see why it would be tax-advantageous.

Situation A: You're Amazon. You give OpenAI $50B cash investment, they then hand you back the $50B over time because they buy $50B worth of Amazon AWS services (they would use AWS or other equivalent compute anyway). OpenAI pays an additional $1-5B in sales taxes on top of their $50B compute purchase. Now let's say you have $25B opex for said compute. You then have $25B profits, you pay 21% corporate taxes on the pro…

Isn’t sales tax only for consumers? Ie companies reverse charge sales tax or omit it entirely. Or what is this 2% - 10% sales tax you’re referring to?

Re: OpenAI closes funding round at an $852B valuation

#400
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even remotely comparable. Uber burnt some $30B over a decade or so.

It seems like it is comparable based on what you just said.

OpenAI have burned nearly 25 times what Uber did, it has more competitors, billions of dollars in obligations and no clear way to profitability.

The problem for OpenAI is that the cost of getting them where they are now has been to high and competitors can now establish themselves for much less money.

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