OpenAI President Greg Brockman said that compute is becoming the new oil of the AI age during an appearance on CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ Monday.
This comparison highlights a shift in the AI economy where raw processing power has become the primary strategic resource. As companies race to build more capable models, the scarcity of hardware and energy creates a bottleneck that could determine which firms lead the industry.
Speaking from the New York studio, Brockman said the industry is locked into a cycle of scarcity. He said that the sector will remain in this compute shortage no matter what [1]. This shortage persists even as investment in data centers and specialized chips reaches record levels.
Brockman also addressed the evolving nature of the technology itself. He said AI models are becoming so advanced that engineers do not always know all the capabilities they have [3]. This gap in understanding suggests that the complexity of these systems is outstripping the ability of their creators to predict their behavior.
These challenges arrive as OpenAI continues to scale its operations and market presence. The company currently holds a valuation of $852 billion [4].
Throughout the discussion, Brockman said that the strategic importance of compute mirrors the geopolitical and economic role oil played in the 20th century. He said that the ability to secure and maintain massive amounts of processing power is now a fundamental requirement for survival in the AI race.
“"Compute is becoming the new oil of the AI age."”
The framing of compute as a commodity similar to oil suggests that AI development is moving from a software-centric phase to a resource-centric phase. If compute remains permanently scarce, the competitive advantage will shift away from algorithmic innovation and toward those who control the physical infrastructure—chips, power grids, and data centers—effectively creating a new form of industrial hegemony in the tech sector.
