Sam Altman didn’t set out to compete with Nvidia. OpenAI began with a simple bet that better ideas, not better infrastructure, would unlock artificial general intelligence. But that view shifted years ago, as Altman realized that more compute, or processing power, meant more capability — and ultimately, more dominance. On …
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images ABILENE, Texas — Sam Altman stood on a patch of hot Texas dirt, the kind that …
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI (L), and Jensen Huang CEO of Nvidia. Reuters ABILENE, Texas – Sam Altman had a deadline. OpenAI’s CEO was headed to Texas to unveil his company’s next big infrastructure push, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang wanted in on the action. Through a series of hurried …
Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer at OpenAI, attends a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 20, 2023. Eric Gaillard | Reuters Sam Altman needed someone to manage the finances. It was 2018, and OpenAI was still a nonprofit research outfit with 40 employees, …