Altman tells Samsung executives AI infrastructure demand may swing in the near term

Nov 12, 2026
OpenAI's CEO said only OpenAI and Anthropic are driving major demand growth today, and that chip supply and data centres are the biggest limits for years.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told about 50 senior executives from Samsung that near-term demand for AI infrastructure could be uneven, TokenPost reported. The group, from Samsung Electronics and its financial and biotech affiliates, asked whether demand for AI, memory chips and data centres could slow over the next five to ten years.

Altman said OpenAI and Anthropic were the only companies currently driving major demand growth, and warned of possible supply shocks and a period of uncertainty. Over the longer term he expects AI use to keep growing as models write custom software in real time and spread into robotics, spacecraft and science. As an example, he said the top user's monthly token use rose from about 100,000 in early 2020 to 100 billion at the start of 2026.

He named chip supply and data-centre infrastructure as the biggest constraints for the next several years, along with financing, safety and public acceptance. Asked about profitability, he said OpenAI aims to build low-cost, vertically integrated infrastructure, including its own chips, and sell tokens in high volume at low margins.

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