Greetings,

OpenAI is narrowing its focus as the race for AGI reaches a fever pitch. Stephanie Palazzolo and Amir Efrati report that CEO Sam Altman is stepping back from direct oversight of safety and security teams to prioritize "building datacenters at unprecedented scale" and securing the supply chains necessary for the company's massive infrastructure needs.

The shift comes as the company finishes pretraining its next major AI model, codenamed "Spud". To free up the immense computing power required to launch it, Altman is winding down the Sora video app—a move so significant it led Disney to walk away from a planned $1 billion investment. It's a clear signal that OpenAI is ready to cull "side quests" to win the enterprise war against Anthropic.

Why it caught my eye:

• The "Spud" Era OpenAI has finished pretraining its next major model, which Altman told staff should be ready in a few weeks and has the potential to "really accelerate the economy".
• Strategic Retreat By shutting down the Sora mobile app and API, the company is prioritizing "AGI Deployment" over consumer video tools that were a significant drag on computing resources.
• High-Stakes Fallout The decision to exit video generation caused Walt Disney Co. to abandon a $1 billion investment and licensing deal, illustrating the steep cost of OpenAI's shifting technical priorities.

As both OpenAI and Anthropic head toward expected IPOs in the next year, Altman is betting everything on the success of his next heavyweight model and the infrastructure needed to run it.

Best,

Jessica Lessin
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

OpenAI CEO Shifts Responsibilities, Preps 'Spud' AI Model

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has relinquished direct oversight of the company's safety and security teams so he can focus on raising capital, supply chains and "building datacenters at unprecedented scale," he told staff on Tuesday.

At the same time, he said the company had completed the initial development of its next major AI model, codenamed Spud, and would wind down the Sora AI video mobile app, which employees had complained was a drag on the company's computing resources during a time of heightened competition with foes such as Anthropic and Google. The shutdown of Sora prompted Walt Disney Co. to abandon a planned $1 billion investment in OpenAI related to a Sora licensing agreement struck last December, according to a person familiar with the situation.

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