In an era where billion-dollar deals typically involve armies of bankers and lawyers, OpenAI’s Sam Altman is rewriting the rulebook. The AI visionary has personally quarterbacked what could amount to $1.5 trillion in technology partnerships with minimal external advice, creating an unprecedented web of interconnected deals that’s raising eyebrows across Silicon Valley and Wall Street alike.
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The Unconventional Deal Architect
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Altman largely sidelined OpenAI’s traditional advisers to personally negotiate massive multiyear agreements with semiconductor heavyweights including Nvidia, Oracle, AMD, and Broadcom. Instead of relying on the usual cadre of investment bankers and legal experts, he’s leaned on a tight inner circle: president Greg Brockman, CFO Sarah Friar, and infrastructure financing lead Peter Hoeschele.
What’s particularly striking about this approach is the sheer scale of the bets being made. We’re not talking about typical supplier contracts here—these are complex, circular arrangements that essentially create a web of mutual dependency between OpenAI and some of technology’s most powerful players. The deals reportedly feature open-ended financial terms with payments tied to various milestones, giving OpenAI flexibility but leaving significant details to be resolved later.
The Chip Gambit: Power Over Precision
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of Altman’s strategy is the apparent prioritization of technical capability over financial precision. Sources indicate that Altman’s team has been focused “first and foremost” on the technical aspects of these chip deals, with financial details “coming later.” This suggests a company racing against time to secure the computing infrastructure needed for the next generation of AI models, regardless of cost.
The numbers involved are staggering. The Nvidia agreement alone reportedly involves up to $100 billion in investment from the chipmaker in exchange for OpenAI spending as much as $350 billion on 10 gigawatts of chips. Meanwhile, the AMD deal grants OpenAI warrants to purchase up to 10% of the company for just 1 cent per share in return for buying 6 gigawatts of chips. These aren’t just supplier relationships—they’re strategic alliances that blur traditional corporate boundaries.
The CoreWeave Blueprint
The template for these massive partnerships appears to have been established back in March with AI cloud provider CoreWeave. That initial $11.9 billion deal for computing power came with a side of $350 million in CoreWeave shares—a structure that’s since proven remarkably successful as the contract expanded to over $22 billion and CoreWeave’s shares tripled in value.
This model represents a significant departure from traditional procurement. By taking equity positions in its suppliers, OpenAI creates alignment but also potential conflicts of interest. It’s a strategy more commonly seen in venture capital than corporate procurement, suggesting Altman is applying his VC background to infrastructure scaling in ways that defy conventional wisdom.
The Team Behind the Vision
While Altman provides the vision, the execution falls to a surprisingly small team. Greg Brockman, the former Stripe CTO who dropped out of MIT to join the payments startup, is described as the quiet force making these complex deals happen. “He’s quiet and behind the scenes but Greg is the one that’s pushing when it’s not so simple,” according to one source.
Meanwhile, Sarah Friar brings crucial financial discipline to the process. The former Goldman Sachs analyst and Nextdoor CEO, who led her previous company through a SPAC IPO, is tasked with ensuring these massive commitments can actually be financed. Her experience with Block (formerly Square) and Salesforce gives her unique perspective on scaling financial operations, though her track record at Nextdoor—where the stock fell by two-thirds after going public—suggests even experienced executives face challenges in public markets.
Industry Implications and Competitive Landscape
OpenAI’s unconventional approach stands in stark contrast to how other tech giants typically handle major partnerships. Companies like Google and Microsoft traditionally employ extensive teams of lawyers, bankers, and consultants to structure complex deals, with multiple layers of oversight and risk assessment.
The market has clearly rewarded OpenAI’s partners—each deal announcement has triggered significant share price bumps for the semiconductor companies involved. But this creates an interesting dynamic: Wall Street is betting on the promise of hundreds of billions in future revenue from these partnerships, while the actual financial mechanics remain somewhat opaque.
This strategy also raises questions about governance and oversight. With such massive commitments being made by a small team without extensive external validation, OpenAI is essentially betting that Altman’s vision and relationships will prove more valuable than traditional due diligence processes.
The Relationship-Driven Economy
What’s particularly fascinating about these deals is how heavily they rely on personal relationships. The Nvidia agreement, for instance, was reportedly very much a product of the “long-standing relationship” between Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, with the two “talking constantly.” Similarly, the AMD partnership came together after years of discussions between Altman and CEO Lisa Su about designing custom chips.
This relationship-centric approach hearkens back to an earlier era of Silicon Valley dealmaking, where handshake agreements between visionaries could launch industry-defining partnerships. But at today’s scale—with trillions of dollars at stake—it represents a significant gamble on the judgment and alignment of a few key individuals.
Future Implications and Risks
OpenAI’s dealmaking strategy reflects several emerging trends in the AI infrastructure race. First, it underscores the critical importance of securing computing power at almost any cost. With AI model training becoming exponentially more resource-intensive, companies are willing to make unprecedented commitments to ensure they have the chips needed to compete.
Second, the circular nature of these deals—where suppliers become investors and customers become partners—creates both opportunities and vulnerabilities. While this alignment can accelerate innovation, it also creates concentration risk and potential conflicts that could complicate future decision-making.
Finally, Altman’s recent hiring of Mike Liberatore, formerly CFO of Elon Musk’s xAI, suggests this aggressive infrastructure push is only accelerating. As OpenAI aims for Altman’s ambitious goal of securing 1 gigawatt of computing power per week, the company appears to be building the financial firepower for even larger commitments ahead.
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The big question hanging over all these arrangements: can this web of interconnected partnerships sustain the inevitable pressures of market cycles, technological shifts, and competitive dynamics? Or has OpenAI created a house of cards that depends too heavily on continuous growth and favorable conditions? Only time will tell whether Altman’s high-stakes solo play represents visionary leadership or dangerous overreach.
