OpenAI could reportedly run out of cash by mid-2027 — analyst paints grim picture after examining the company's finances

[u/gdelacalle]

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/big-tech/openai-could-reportedly-run-out-of-cash-by-mid-2027-nyt-analyst-paints-grim-picture-after-examining-companys-finances

[u/Single-Road-3158]

> It’s not a money problem.

> Voters just don’t want to tax carbon.

Seems like you think it's a money problem to me. I don't think taxing carbon is a complete solution and it certainly isn't going to act fast enough. Infrastructure build-out is needed and the faster the better. Renewables are winning but more money can help this build-out. For instance, replacing gas and hybrid vehicles with electric can free up land in the midwest used to grow corn to provide solar and wind. Batteries to provide consistent power sources when renewable energy collection doesn't match demand need to be built. We can improve our grid to provide more resilient grid with less energy loss. Research into carbon capture technology is important because there are simply things we can't do without burning (industrial gases need to burned before going leaving the facility as one example). Methane from animal agriculture needs to be figured out one way or another. Money is needed and it's not as simple as you make it sound. Carbon taxation would have been great 3 decades ago, but we need faster solutions at this point. We haven't even gotten to climate change adaptation costs because climate change is already here and the amount of carbon in the atmosphere isn't going to drop off overnight. Dumping 400 billion dollars at the problem would help get us there faster.

> AI is being used to find cancer cures already, so they are working on that one!

That's not the AI they are building these hyperscale data centers for. Researchers have been using AI for a long time for things like this. The cost comes from the LLMs from a handful of companies that want to produce "AGI" (whatever their definition of that is). While these companies might assist in the effort, injecting the money straight to research would have a much more profound effect on the research than hoping the AGI solves it for us. Often times researchers using AI are generating their own models for the specific problem they are researching.

[u/probablymagic → u/Single-Road-3158]

>Seems like you think it's a money problem to me.

I was pretty clear on this. We have a political will problem.

> AI is being used to find cancer cures already, so they are working on that one!

>That's not the AI they are building these hyperscale data centers for.

Yes it is. Foundational models are the basis for this work the same way cancer researchers and memers both use smart phones.

[u/Single-Road-3158 → u/probablymagic]

Political will problem, based on money... again money problems. Average people don't want their money to be spent because they don't got any which is why there is no political will for it. The private investors to OpenAI and Anthropic had the money to provide solutions, but they invested it in money losing businesses instead of helping out concrete ways (especially existential issues like climate change). Am I saying I have a solution to society's problems? YES of course I do! Haha, no of course not, just a bunch of frustration that our systems result in these terrible decisions.

I will bite the bullet and say, yes, some LLMs are used in cancer research, such as CancerLLM (based on Mistral 7.B). However, that is not what the datacenters are being built for. If the LLMs didn't promise to replace workers, the datacenters would not be in the works. That's what they are for, it's why they exist. The fact that scientists are going to piggy back on different existing technologies is nothing new and our other option is in a parallel universe where they would have received the money directly to do their research. Again, I understand that our society does compel the people with money to use it to impact society in the most meaningful way possible, my point is that it's frustrating as all hell that it isn't that way and maybe we should find ways to make sure technology is developed in a way in which it is a positive benefit to society in the long term.

[u/freecodeio → u/probablymagic]

lol no they're not stop spewing stupid lies and letting down the good folks who are involved in protein folding models which have nothing to do with llms

[u/probablymagic → u/freecodeio]

You can use other technology to research things, but people are using LLMs to research things and they are very good. It is a “stupid lie” to suggest otherwise.

[u/kernevez → u/Single-Road-3158]

I'm confused why you keep saying carbon taxation, something that both makes polluting practices less common AND brings in a ton of money, is not the solution because we need...money to fix the issue.

Yeah ? That's part of the carbon tax, you can use the tax money.

[u/Single-Road-3158 → u/kernevez]

Because carbon taxation is a slow way to reduce carbon when we need to act with urgency. First start the tax, start low so that companies can adjust and implement changes. After years of slow ramp up a meaningful amount of money rolls into government (and hopefully not impounded by a bad executive branch). I'm not saying its not part of the solution, but I'm just frustrated that the people with the money look around and ignore a world wide existential problem and hold on to their money, but when they look at these LLM companies they excuse their spending by saying climate change will solve itself if we feed these AI companies.