Sam Altman on Sora, Energy, and Building an AI Empire
Sam Altman laid out OpenAI's vision: vertical integration from consumer AI to massive infrastructure to research.
The goal: accelerate progress toward AGI.
Sora as Research and Product
Sora isn't just a product. It's also a research enabler:
Video and world models reveal real-world usage patterns. They also advance capabilities.
This dual purpose—product and research—defines OpenAI's approach.
Continuous Acceleration
Altman rejected the "singularity" narrative. Instead, he sees model progress as continuous acceleration.
Each generation improves. The improvements compound. There's no sudden jump— just steady, rapid progress.
What Counts as Progress
Traditional benchmarks feel insufficient. Altman's view: meaningful evaluations are:
AI-driven scientific discovery. Can AI advance knowledge?
Real-world usefulness. Does it actually help people?
Static benchmarks measure narrow capabilities. These measures capture what matters more.
Compute and Energy
The infrastructure requirements are staggering. Building AI at scale requires massive compute investment.
Energy becomes a constraint. The physical reality of power limits growth.
OpenAI's strategy includes addressing these constraints directly.
The Empire Vision
This adds up to something ambitious: an AI empire spanning:
- Consumer products people use daily
- Infrastructure powering those products
- Research pushing capabilities forward
The integration creates competitive moats. Control of the full stack means control of the direction.
What This Means
OpenAI isn't just building products. It's building an integrated vision of AI's future.
Whether this approach wins remains uncertain. But it represents a clear theory of how to get to AGI.
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