Business | The greatest show on Earth

One of the fastest-growing companies in history is in a perilous position

illustration of a businessperson balancing on a tightrope while riding a unicycle shaped like the OpenAI logo
Illustration: Mariaelena Caputi

|SAN FRANCISCO|6 min read

Sam Altman is like a juggler on a unicycle. Building all-knowing chatbots powered by cutting-edge artificial-intelligence models is too meek an ambition for OpenAI’s boss. To keep his audience rapt, he has thrown ever more balls into the air. Custom chips? Of course. E-commerce? Why not. Business consulting? Too easy. A consumer device? You betcha.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The greatest show on Earth”

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