OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently appeared in The Times and Sunday Times for an interview where he shared interesting thoughts about US President Donald J. Trump and his administration's hands-on approach to tech (via tsarnick on X, formerly Twitter).
Sam Altman says there has been a "vibe shift" in Silicon Valley's relationship to Washington, with President Trump being "a very welcome breath of fresh air" for the tech industry pic.twitter.com/VYeda9c1AgFebruary 10, 2025
The interview started with the OpenAI executive seemingly describing the Biden-Harris administration as "hostile" and unfriendly to tech and business. According to Altman:
"The last administration was so, the word that came to mind was so hostile. I think it's a little bit too strong but they were not friendly to tech or business or kind of anything that I would view as constructive."
Last month, President Trump hailed OpenAI and SoftBank's $500 billion Stargate project designed to facilitate the construction of data centers across the United States to bolster AI advances.
More recently, the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has raised investor concern following the release of its ultra-cost-effective AI model, which reportedly cost $6 million to train. In comparison, DeepSeek's model stacks miles behind proprietary models like OpenAI's o1 reasoning model, which it also happens to surpass across a wide range of benchmarks, including science, coding, and math.
Speaking of China, the Biden-Harris administration imposed stringent exportation rules, preventing China from accessing advanced AI chips. Biden's regime stressed that these measures weren't in place to rundown China's economy but to mitigate and establish control over its AI and military advances.
During Biden's last week in office, he imposed stricter measures to exportation rules on China, including a block on China from bypassing NVIDIA by using Huawei via shell companies and getting TSMC to manufacture the chips. Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner claims if President Trump revokes Biden's exportation rules, it would be "a huge victory" for China and DeepSeek.
OpenAI's $500 billion bet on Stargate has been questioned by top players in the AI landscape, including xAI owner Elon Musk, who claimed that OpenAI doesn't have the money to drive the project. "I have that on good authority," the billionaire added.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff also claimed that OpenAI's commitment to Stargate could potentially sever its ties with Microsoft. While Microsoft has lost its exclusive cloud provider status, it still holds the "right of first refusal" when OpenAI is seeking more computing power. Benioff predicts that Microsoft won't use OpenAI for its AI advances in the future.
To that end, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says President Trump's administration shows great promise, allowing tech companies to build in the US, touting it as "a welcome breath of fresh air."
"I think there's huge excitement that we can not just be good at software in the US, but maybe we can go figure out how to get good as at semiconductor fab, robotic factories, and building new energy." "And that is a vibe shift," concluded Altman.
