Sam Altman says AI will eventually be sold like electricity and water - by companies like OpenAI

"Fundamentally our business and I think the business of every other model provider is going to look like selling tokens. We see a future where intelligence is a utility like electricity or water and people buy it from us on a meter and use it for whatever they want to use it for."

"In that world, compute capacity determines who gets access - and demand for AI is only going up. If OpenAI doesn't build enough compute capacity to meet demand, it either can't sell it or the price gets really high. That would push AI access toward the wealthy, or force governments to decide how limited compute should be distributed."

Sam Altman envisions artificial intelligence as a future utility service, similar to electricity and water, where users pay based on consumption through token metering. OpenAI and other AI providers will operate business models centered on selling tokens—the units AI systems use to process data. As demand for AI surges, compute capacity becomes the critical limiting factor determining who gains access. Insufficient compute infrastructure forces either restricted availability or elevated pricing, potentially concentrating AI access among wealthy entities or requiring government intervention for distribution. Major technology companies are investing hundreds of billions in compute infrastructure to meet escalating AI demand.

Read at Business Insider