OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed hope for a "miracle" in short-term AI efficiencies amid $110 billion in recent funding from SoftBank, NVIDIA and Amazon. Speaking at the US Infrastructure Summit, Altman acknowledged power bottleneck challenges while remaining optimistic about long-term solutions across gas, solar and nuclear energy sources.

Altman warned about US vulnerability in the global AI race, emphasizing how "scary" he finds the country's position on infrastructure. OpenAI signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge last month, committing to cover power delivery infrastructure costs for data centers, though noted growing public skepticism about AI's role in electricity price hikes and job losses.

The OpenAI leader described infrastructure costs as "one of the hardest parts" of the business, noting he's "never seen any other industry quite like this." With demand growing rapidly, Altman called for governments and society to jointly confront AI challenges, acknowledging the unusual capital requirements needed to support the steep growth trajectory.