Sam Altman's pants are on fire

Perceived AI Bubble and Market Turn

• Several commenters feel the AI hype is peaking and starting to reverse, citing changing attitudes among early ChatGPT enthusiasts and a more cautious tone from VCs and pundits.
• Comparisons are drawn to crypto: greed, shallow thinking, and susceptibility to charismatic founders are seen as repeating patterns.
• Some expect a painful correction or “AI winter” that will wipe out speculative business models but ultimately produce more realistic expectations and better research.

Loan Guarantees vs “Bailouts”

• A central dispute is whether OpenAI’s leadership asked for a bailout or merely government-backed loans/guarantees.
• One camp says a CFO explicitly asked for guaranteed loans, which in practice functions as a bailout-style safety net.
• Another camp insists the remarks were about chip fabs and grid equipment, akin to existing industrial policy (e.g., incentives for semiconductor plants), not direct support for OpenAI’s data centers.
• There’s confusion and disagreement over terminology: “guaranteed loans,” “handouts,” “subsidies,” and “bailouts” are treated very differently by different commenters.

Altman’s Credibility and Motives

• Critics argue Altman routinely tests political and financial “temperature,” then backtracks or denies when criticized, implying he’s untrustworthy and primarily seeking power and safety for his own position.
• Others see him as a classic dealmaker: highly skilled at fundraising and political maneuvering, less so at technical substance.

Role and Bias of the Article’s Author

• Some view the piece as a long-running personal crusade against AI and Altman, more polemic than investigation.
• Others counter that repeated warnings about a powerful, truth-flexible CEO are a legitimate public service, regardless of the author’s prior wrong calls on AI.