OpenAI seeks government backing to boost AI investments (www.businesstimes.com.sg)

OpenAI is quietly pressing the US government for federal loan guarantees to underwrite a massive expansion of AI computing infrastructure, CFO Sarah Friar said at a Wall Street Journal event. The unusual request—which would let the government absorb losses if OpenAI defaulted—aims to lower borrowing costs and broaden the pool of willing lenders (many of which currently avoid high‑risk exposures). The move comes as OpenAI pursues enormous, long‑term deals (estimates in recent coverage mention roughly $1 trillion in commitments this year, including a reported $300B partnership with Oracle and a $500B Stargate arrangement with Oracle and SoftBank) while revenues in the “tens of billions” still lag the anticipated compute spend. For the AI/ML community this is significant because it reframes core industry financing: public backstops could accelerate capital‑intensive compute buildouts (data centers, custom chips, cloud contracts) but also shift financial risk to taxpayers and set a precedent for public-private underwriting of frontier AI infrastructure. Technically, the key constraints driving the ask are the massive, uncertain lifecycle costs of AI data centers and the crunch in available high‑risk credit. OpenAI also reiterated it has no immediate IPO plans, emphasizing growth-focused funding over public markets for now.