The head of one of the largest US endowments says OpenAI and Anthropic are in big trouble
Scott Wilson, CIO of Washington University's endowment, argues that major AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic are overvalued and face significant financial risks. He believes the high infrastructure costs will be undermined by the emergence of cheaper, open-source, or free AI alternatives.
Why it matters
This contrarian view challenges the prevailing 'AI bubble' narrative and highlights the debate over the long-term profitability of frontier AI models.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman this month in San Francisco. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images Scott Wilson is the CIO of Washington University's endowment, who made a hugely profitable bet on SpaceX. Wilson is openly sharing what he admits is his "unpopular opinion" about frontier labs. Vinod Khosla, an early investor in OpenAI, told Business Insider he strongly disagrees with Wilson. Scott Wilson knows what it is like to make a contrarian bet that pays off big. His early investment in SpaceX helped create a multi-billion dollar windfall for Washington University's endowment. Now he's making another one: The trillion-dollar AI labs are in major trouble. Wilson argues that OpenAI and Anthropic have committed to enormous spending just as cheaper Chinese models are catching up.
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