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Trump's AI Advisor Rules Out Federal Bailout; OpenAI Clarifies Financing Remarks

2025-11-07

The BareStory

An artificial intelligence advisor for President Donald Trump stated Thursday there would be "no federal bailout for AI," following remarks from OpenAI's chief financial officer about industry financing. The CFO, Sarah Friar, subsequently clarified her comments, and OpenAI’s CEO affirmed the company is not seeking government guarantees.

The exchange began after Friar spoke at a conference on Wednesday about establishing a financing ecosystem for infrastructure investments that could include a federal "backstop" or "guarantee." In response, David Sacks, who serves as Trump's AI and crypto czar, posted on the social media platform X that if a major U.S. AI company were to fail, others would take its place.

Friar later posted on LinkedIn that she had "muddied the point" with the word "backstop" and stated that OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for its commitments. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman echoed this on Thursday, saying the company does not want government guarantees for its data centers and that if its strategic bets are wrong, the market, not the government, will deal with the consequences.

The discussion on financing coincides with major spending plans by the company. Altman announced Thursday that OpenAI is on track to generate more than $20 billion in annualized revenue this year, an increase from a $13 billion projection shared in September. Altman also said the company plans to grow sales into the hundreds of billions by 2030, explaining that large infrastructure projects are a necessary bet on a future economy powered by AI.

In her clarification, Friar said her original point was that American technological strength requires both the private sector and government to play their respective parts in building industrial capacity. Sacks, while ruling out a bailout, said the Trump administration wants to make permitting and power generation easier to facilitate infrastructure projects.

Left Perspective

  • Rejects the idea of a federal bailout for the AI industry.
  • Believes market forces should determine the fate of AI companies.
  • Sees a government role in easing regulatory hurdles for development.

Right Perspective

  • Initially raised the possibility of federal support for AI infrastructure.
  • Clarified it is not seeking government financial guarantees or a bailout.
  • Envisions a future requiring massive investment and public-private collaboration.

How it may affect me

As a U.S. reader:

• Your tax dollars are unlikely to be used to bail out a failing AI company, based on statements from a Trump advisor and OpenAI's leadership.

• Future government policy may ease permitting for AI infrastructure, potentially speeding up construction of data centers and power projects in some areas.

• The success or failure of massive AI projects will likely depend on private investment, not government guarantees, which will shape the future AI market.

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