Sam Altman's OpenAI Hints At Offering AI Cloud Services, Seeks Ways To Directly Sell Compute Capacity

Author: Rounak Jain | November 09, 2025 03:37am

OpenAI's Sam Altman hinted at a potential new direction for the company, suggesting that the AI startup might start offering compute capacity directly to other businesses and individuals.

Taking On Tech Giants

If OpenAI goes through with it, this move could position it as a competitor to established cloud service providers like Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure, Amazon.com Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AMZN) AWS, and Alphabet Inc.-owned (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google's Cloud Platform.

"We are also looking at ways to more directly sell compute capacity to other companies (and people); we are pretty sure the world is going to need a lot of ‘AI cloud’, and we are excited to offer this," Altman said in a post on X.

I would like to clarify a few things.

First, the obvious one: we do not have or want government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters. We believe that governments should not pick winners or losers, and that taxpayers should not bail out companies that make bad business decisions or…

— Sam Altman (@sama) November 6, 2025

Clarifying Misunderstandings

Altman’s comments came as he sought to clarify misunderstandings circulating on social media. He emphasized the growing demand for AI cloud services and expressed excitement about OpenAI’s potential role in meeting this need. The announcement raises questions about how OpenAI plans to finance its recent $1 trillion AI infrastructure deals.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar had previously hinted at this strategic shift, according to a report by Business Insider. In September, she noted that cloud providers have been benefiting from OpenAI’s expertise without compensating the company, suggesting a desire to capitalize on their own AI advancements.

See Also: Tesla Starts Offering Rentals Beginning At $60 A Day: FSD, Free Charging Included

OpenAI's Revenue Growth

Altman’s remarks have sparked speculation about OpenAI’s future business model and its ability to generate returns on significant infrastructure investments. The potential development of a cloud service could alleviate investor concerns and provide a clearer path for OpenAI’s financial growth.

Recently, Altman revealed that OpenAI’s revenue has surpassed the $13 billion estimate, with projections to reach $100 billion by 2027.

In August, Altman indicated that OpenAI might need to go public to sustain its ambitious spending on AI infrastructure, drawing parallels to the 1990s dot-com bubble.

Altman also firmly denied any intentions of seeking government bailouts, emphasizing that OpenAI does not desire federal guarantees for its data centers.

Read Next:

• Dan Ives Says Tech Stocks Will ‘Rip Higher' Through Year-End Amid Growing AI Valuation Concerns: ‘Bull Market Has 2 More Years Of Runway'

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

Posted In: AMZN GOOG GOOGL MSFT