Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +15.32%) stock fell 2.9% through 10:55 a.m. ET Friday as worries mounted over the health of the artificial intelligence economy.
Worries that began this morning at OpenAI.
Image source: Getty Images.
OpenAI's words to the wise
As The New York Times reports, OpenAI and its advisors are nervous after watching SpaceX (SPCX +3.59%) stock IPO to near-universal acclaim, rise rapidly for a few days -- and then abruptly U-turn south, losing $600 billion in market capitalization in a matter of days.
This reversal in sentiment surrounding SpaceX -- which started as a space company but is becoming ever more an artificial intelligence company -- has OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on edge, and wondering whether now is really the best time for another AI IPO. OpenAI's advisors are telling Altman he must choose: wait for a $1 trillion valuation and IPO in 2027, or IPO in 2026 and risk a lower valuation.
Altman really wants to secure a trillion-dollar valuation, though. For this reason, he's leaning toward postponing the IPO.
NASDAQ: AMD
Key Data Points
What this means for AMD
It's not 100% clear what this means for AMD. On the one hand, a delayed IPO would also delay a cash windfall for OpenAI -- which it would presumably spend on AI computing capacity and AI chips from AMD (and others).
On the other hand, OpenAI already signed a deal with AMD last year to buy tens of billions of dollars-worth of AMD chips over the next five years.
Investors don't seem too nervous about the effects of a delayed IPO, and comparing the length of the supply commitment (five years) versus the potential delay in OpenAI receiving IPO cash (less than one year), I suspect the risk to AMD's sales here is minimal. Today's 3% decline is probably more than enough to cover it.
