OpenAI considered enriching itself by playing China, Russia, and the US against each other, starting a bidding war. "What if we sold it to Putin?"

A major New Yorker investigation has exposed internal discussions at OpenAI where leadership reportedly considered leveraging geopolitical tensions for financial gain. According to the report, executives, including CEO Sam Altman, debated the strategy of playing the United States, China, and Russia against each other to start a bidding war for the company's most advanced artificial intelligence technology. The article cites a stark, hypothetical question posed internally: "What if we sold it to Putin?" This reveals a coldly pragmatic, profit-driven calculus at the highest levels of the world's leading AI lab, separate from its publicly stated mission of ensuring AI benefits all of humanity.

The report, based on interviews with numerous current and former employees, paints a picture of a company wrestling with the dual pressures of astronomical development costs, estimated in the tens of billions, and the world-altering potential of artificial general intelligence (AGI). These discussions underscore the reality that AGI is not just a technological milestone but a commodity of unprecedented strategic value. The revelations directly challenge trust in OpenAI's governance and its ability to self-regulate the development of a technology with profound implications for global power dynamics, economic stability, and national security.