Critics within OpenAI alleged that a plot was entertained at the highest levels of the company to sell the next generation of AGI to the highest international bidder, pitting countries like China, Russia, and the United States against each other.

In November 2024, OpenAI published a document titled "OpenAI's infrastructure blueprint for the US" to justify its data center buildout and spending, invoking Russia and China as geopolitical rivals.

An intense international AI race is occurring, involving multiple data centers controlled by different companies and countries such as the US and China.

On May 1, 2026, Wired published an investigative report exposing a secretive propaganda campaign orchestrated by OpenAI to frame taxpayer subsidies as a national security priority in an AI race against China.

Ronan Farrow's reporting suggests Sam Altman and his crew at OpenAI privately discussed leveraging a global arms race to make money by playing world powers like China and Russia against each other.