CNBC’s Jim Cramer suggested some artificial intelligence companies might start to underperform after months of easy gains across the board, expressing concerns about OpenAI’s ability to pay the billions it’s committed to spend on an infrastructure buildout.
“In this kind of environment, you need to start diversifying into other growth areas, perhaps in time to keep all the king’s horses and all the king’s men sidelined,” he said. “Maybe OpenAI can come public and Humpty-Dumpty won’t have a great fall, but in the meantime, it’s something you need to keep an eye on.”
OpenAI has inked deals with many tech peers worth hundreds of billions, and Cramer suggested the company may have to borrow money to meet its obligations. Recent comments from OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar were worrisome, he said. At an event earlier this week, Friar floated the idea that OpenAI could use the government as a backstop to fulfill its commitments, which spooked investors — even as Friar later clarified that OpenAI is not currently seeking government funding.
So far, much of the AI buildout has been fueled by cash, not debt, Cramer said. But he stressed that debt financing, rather than cash, is riskier and makes companies more vulnerable. He also warned that problems with OpenAI could spread across the industry because the company is working with so many others in the sector. He compared the situation to rise of railroads in the U.S., where some companies borrowed heavily and then went bankrupt. While he said he’s not suggesting OpenAI will end up bankrupt, he wishes “these guys would just slow down.”
Cramer suggested OpenAI enter the booming IPO market to raise billions in order to “un-muddy the waters.” He also said he’d like to see some “profits from the miners and not just from those who make the Nvidia picks and the AMD shovels,” and for speculative tech stocks to cool down.
“I’m proclaiming that for the rest of the year it’s the era of investing not as if by magic, but as if by profits,” Cramer said. “And for that to happen there’s going to be far fewer winners and a lot more losers.”
OpenAI did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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