OpenAI Is Its People, and That’s Exactly Why the AI Bubble Is Inflating

When Sam Altman said “OpenAI is nothing without its people,” he captured both the company’s greatest strength and its growing vulnerability. As competition for elite AI talent intensifies, companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic are offering unprecedented compensation and faster paths to liquidity. At the same time, large language models are rapidly commoditizing, narrowing technical differentiation. This article examines how soaring valuations, unprofitable business models, and escalating talent costs are inflating an AI bubble driven less by durable advantage and more by capital and liquidity. It explores what may happen if market expectations collide with economic reality.