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OpenAI Sam Altman Says the Company Is 'Out of GPUs' (techcrunch.com) 33
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the company was forced to stagger the rollout of its newest model, GPT-4.5, because OpenAI is "out of GPUs." In a post on X, Altman said that GPT-4.5, which he described as "giant" and "expensive," will require "tens of thousands" more GPUs before additional ChatGPT users can gain access. GPT-4.5 will come first to subscribers to ChatGPT Pro starting Thursday, followed by ChatGPT Plus customers next week.
Perhaps in part due to its enormous size, GPT-4.5 is wildly expensive. OpenAI is charging $75 per million tokens (~750,000 words) fed into the model and $150 per million tokens generated by the model. That's 30x the input cost and 15x the output cost of OpenAI's workhorse GPT-4o model. "We've been growing a lot and are out of GPUs," Altman wrote. "We will add tens of thousands of GPUs next week and roll it out to the Plus tier then [] This isn't how we want to operate, but it's hard to perfectly predict growth surges that lead to GPU shortages."
Perhaps in part due to its enormous size, GPT-4.5 is wildly expensive. OpenAI is charging $75 per million tokens (~750,000 words) fed into the model and $150 per million tokens generated by the model. That's 30x the input cost and 15x the output cost of OpenAI's workhorse GPT-4o model. "We've been growing a lot and are out of GPUs," Altman wrote. "We will add tens of thousands of GPUs next week and roll it out to the Plus tier then [] This isn't how we want to operate, but it's hard to perfectly predict growth surges that lead to GPU shortages."
Why?!? (Score:2)
What a pointless, self-serving statement.
Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it(you). I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Re: (Score:3)
"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind." -- Rayna Butler, a survivor of the Butlerian Jihad
(from the Dune prequel "The battle of Corrin")
Re: (Score:2)
I never understood this in that universe. Like, what is that even supposed to mean, "likeness"? Were early computers like the human mind? I mean, in the movies and in the recent Prophecy series, it's pretty clear that there are computer-like objects around and machines that would require computers to work.
Spoilers (Score:2)
Spoilers incoming!
Yes. The Old Empire had thinking machine servants. Robots with AGI circuitry. Androids, though they were not called that. And, of course, somebody decided to weaponize them. And, of course, they turned on their masters and became the evil robot overlords of the galaxy. They enslaved the humans and kept them alive largely as a quirk of their programming, but treated them very badly and wantonly experimented on them and killed them whenever it was convenient.
The evil robot overlords ru
Re: (Score:2)
So Dune had humans doing all the data analyses and making all decisions, with machines at lea
Re: Why?!? (Score:2)
Because the only thing the "AI revolution" has going for it is a blind belief in brute force.
Re: (Score:2)
"that pesky supply and demand"
What if this is actually just an excuse? What if the scarcity they want you to focus on is temporary, and the decision to raise prices is greed not necessity? When he says he's out of GPUs does he mean they're in boxes not in the computer, and then NVIDIA uses that narrative in your mind, that there is more demand than supply, to raise prices, and the middlemen raise prices, all because of an assumption of scarcity that doesn't really have to exist?
Remember when we paid by the
Re:Nvidia shortage (Score:4, Insightful)
datacenter GPUs (almost 100% for AI purposes) are 78% of their revenue, from 40% in 2022, and and ~22% in 2019.
That trend isn't going to be changing any time soon.
Bet he wishes there was... (Score:2)
Fuck you Altman.
PR CRAP (Score:1)
Sam Altman is a moneyraiser. This isn't an "alert" about a GPU shortage. It's a call for more investor money.
I don't know him personally but from what I read there's a reason nobody wants to work for him.
One day when there's a real AI someone will ask its opinion of Sam Altman, and the AI will laugh and laugh and laugh.
As should we.
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Bingo. This reeks of excuses for the poor performance of their newest "model".
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You know DeepSeek must be something if the US wants to jail people for simply downloading it. https://www.fox29.com/news/dee... [fox29.com]
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You know DeepSeek must be something
Indeed, and that something is "Associated with the bogeyman du jure."
DeepSeek R1's CoT is pretty fucking cool... but only really because it has open weights. It doesn't perform particularly better than the other CoT models.
MoE does let it crunch less numbers to get answers, but that's not new either.
Re: PR CRAP (Score:2)
Re: PR CRAP (Score:2)
This. Altman is one of those Silicon Valley golden boys: smooth-talking, backstabbing sociopaths.
In the case of OpenAI, as soon as the potential financial success was on the horizon, he started wriggling out of their commitment to "openness" and "not for profit".
Now, the Chinese have matched OpenAI with a far less expensive model, and other competitors are not far behind. OpenAI may genuinely have problems going forward. If do, look for Sam to take some sort of gold-plated exit.
openAI was the best - now it's not (Score:1)
It seems like their AI doesn't work. (Score:3)
"This isn't how we want to operate, but it's hard to perfectly predict growth surges that lead to GPU shortages."
-says CEO of AI company.
If your AI is so great, shouldn't it be able to look at a trend and make a prediction about the future needs of your business?
Re: It seems like their AI doesn't work. (Score:2)
No, you see for supply and demand trends you have to be *accurate*.
That is not a requirement for AI today.
Re: (Score:2)
Nor obviously for Sam Altman, right?
Re: It seems like their AI doesn't work. (Score:2)
I know this might sound confusing with an eighth grade math education, but something that is hard to predict doesn't follow a predictable trend.
If I plot three points roughly in a line you could predict a fourth right? If I plot three points in the shape of a triangle, could you predict the next one or would you rather have free time with the crayons.
Re: (Score:2)
If supply and demand are noise, aren't prices too?
Mo Money (Score:2)
I had to chuckle, it's the American solution: throw more money (aka GPUs) at it. Wait, wasn't it "work smarter, not harder"?
Seems like the "AI" "industry" is ripe for disruption. Anyone?
Re: (Score:2)
Really the models need to get smart enough to decide which model to use.
Google wanted to get AI out there so they do it with almost every search, but that isn't affordable so it gives such horrible results they're just tarnishing their AI image in my opinion. Use it when it's called for, but then get the job done.
Re: (Score:2)
Do you think you can provide me with one measly example of this huge superior AI you have access to by paying a lot of money or working for an employer that pays a lot of money, because I'm just a plebe who learned from Richard Stallman not to pay for software so I just use the free AIs and they help me out a lot? What am I missing by not buying the latest and greatest? Is it just prestige and stories about how great it is, without actually providing examples, just winking and nodding to others who pay for
AI == Actually Insolvent (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
How many times has Trump declared bankruptcy again? Do you think the president knows that liquidity kills you quick but solvency doesn't matter except to use cynically as a political tool to press the buttons of people like yourself so you'll follow his agenda while he knows he can spend as he wants on whatever he wants and use the "there's no money left!" excuse to fire whomever he wants?
Perhaps scaling has run its course (Score:2)
And altman is now tilting at windmills.
Thanks for taking all the Gaming GPUs, Asshole! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Can you use AI to build your own?
What do the tough do when there are shortages? (Score:2)
Did China build DeepSeek when the US banned them from the best chips?