OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told senators that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom “will be at least as big as the internet, maybe bigger,” pressing Congress to clear bottlenecks in energy, chips, and regulation as the United States jockeys for global dominance in the technology race. 

The testimony was extensive, but there was a consistent theme: AI is incredibly advanced, helping hundreds of millions, and it’s vital that America leads the AI race. “ChatGPT is used by more than 500 million people a week,” Altman said. He continued, “It's now the fifth biggest website on the internet globally growing very quickly.” Given the sweeping and global nature of OpenAI's products, it's more than clear he is on to something with his bold prediction. 

According to Altman, America is leading the AI race and he is proud of how his country is supporting those efforts. But in order for America to stay ahead, “investment in infrastructure is critical. I believe the next decade will be about abundant intelligence and abundant energy.”

At a three‑hour Senate Commerce Committee hearing on May 8, Altman appeared alongside Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su, Microsoft (MSFT) vice‑chair Brad Smith, and CoreWeave (CRWV) co‑founder Michael Intrator. All four executives urged lawmakers to craft a single, “light‑touch” federal rulebook and accelerate permitting for power‑hungry data‑center projects.

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Altman highlighted OpenAI’s Stargate super‑computing campus rising outside Abilene, Texas — a joint venture with Oracle (ORCL) expected to house 64,000 Nvidia (NVDA) GB200 GPUs by 2026 and draw roughly 200 megawatts in its first phase. But financing for the wider $100 billion national build‑out has slowed after fresh Trump‑era tariffs threatened to lift steel and server costs by up to 15%, according to investors briefed on the deal.

The Trump administration in April slapped new export licenses on Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s forthcoming MI308 accelerators. Nvidia expects a $5.5 billion charge, while AMD warned of $1.5 billion in lost 2025 revenue.

Su cautioned senators that blanket controls could backfire, pushing allies toward Chinese chips. Her prepared testimony asked Congress to balance national‑security goals with market access so that U.S. technology remains the world’s first choice.

Another focus of both the congressional hearing, as well as many vocal AI experts in recent months, has been new energy generation. A December 2024 Department of Energy study projects U.S. data‑center electricity demand could double or triple by 2028, swallowing up to 12% of national generation. Billions of dollars are being pumped into U.S. data centers, but there’s a major concern right now that the U.S. won’t be able to keep up with energy demand, creating a potential bottleneck in the AI race.