Sarah Friar, CFO of OpenAI, inadvertently caused a firestorm during an interview with Wall Street Journal.
Friar spoke about the challenges in financing chip development.
Friar: And so this is where we’re looking for an ecosystem of banks, private equity, maybe even um uh governmental um uh the ways governments can come to bear.
WSJ: Meaning like a federal subsidy or something?
Friar: Um meaning like just first of all the backstop, the guarantee that allows the financing to happen that can really drop the the cost of the financing but also increase the the loan to value. So the amount of debt that you can take on top of um an equity uh portion for
WSJ: So some federal backstop for chip investment?
Friar: Exactly. And I think we’re seeing that I think the US government in particular has been incredibly forwardleaning um has really understood that AI has uh is almost a national strategic asset and that we really need to be thoughtful when we think about competit competition with for example China. Are we doing all the right things to grow our AI ecosystem as fast as possible?
WSJ: Are you talking to the White House about how to further formalize that kind of backstop?
Friar: We we’re always being brought in by the White House to give our point of view as an expert on what’s happening in the sector for sure.
WSJ: Should we, you know, is there something in the works that’s tangible? Friar: No. No. I I love you, Sarah, but nothing to announce. Nothing that’s going on right now.
That led both Friar and Sam Altman to issue a clarification, if not retraction. Altman, in fact, posted 2 lengthy clarifications.