Chamath Palihapitiya has said that the escalating shortage of power and computing infrastructure could become the defining threat to leading AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, while creating a major strategic opening for Elon Musk.
AI Compute And Power Constraints Could Reshape The Industry
During the latest episode of the All-In Podcast released over the weekend, Palihapitiya argued that AI’s next major battleground is no longer model quality alone, but access to electricity, data centers and computing power.
“To the extent that OpenAI missed, I think what that is is an insight into not enough compute capacity today and that problem is only getting worse,” Palihapitiya said, referring to the report about ChatGPT–parent missing revenue targets.
He pointed to a growing mismatch between announced AI infrastructure projects and what is actually being built, warning that many large-scale power and data center developments remain stalled by permitting delays and regulatory hurdles.
“Less than half of it is actually being built,” he said. “Most of it is stuck in red tape.”
OpenAI Revenue Concerns Add Pressure
Palihapitiya’s comments come after reports that OpenAI has fallen short of internal revenue and user growth targets, raising concerns about its ability to sustain massive computing costs tied to its aggressive expansion plans.
According to reports, OpenAI executives are increasingly focused on whether future revenue growth can keep pace with expensive long-term computing commitments.
Hyperscalers And Musk Could Gain The Upper Hand
Palihapitiya said this environment could heavily benefit major cloud and infrastructure providers, including Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google.
He also suggested Musk and his AI ambitions could be especially well-positioned.
“If I were Elon now, I’d be running all over this market,” Palihapitiya said, adding that Musk’s compute access could create opportunities for strategic partnerships, including with Anthropic.
“He and Dario [Amodei] should do a deal tomorrow,” he said.
SpaceX’s Sovereign AI Strategy Could Give Musk Massive Edge
Previously, Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster argued that Musk’s SpaceX is uniquely positioned to dominate the full AI value chain through its “sovereign AI” strategy — an end-to-end ecosystem controlling models, chips, data centers and global distribution without depending on outside providers.
Munster said this vertically integrated approach, powered by assets such as Starlink, xAI’s Grok, proprietary X data and potential in-house chip production, could give Musk unmatched control over every layer of AI infrastructure.
He contrasted this with rivals like OpenAI, which relies heavily on partners for GPUs, chips and cloud infrastructure, while companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) each control only portions of the broader AI stack.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Meir Chaimowitz on Shutterstock.com
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