I think right now it should definitely be a race to profitability, because revenue will not save you from unsustainable finances, no matter how large the values are.

I think OpenAI is currently far enough ahead that they could just cut training and R&D for a while (maybe even 1-2 years) and rake in some money before they'd need to start again, but if a smaller company finds a way to keep doing R&D while also being profitable, it doesn't matter if they're a little behind in quality, they will win in the long term.

> I think right now it should definitely be a race to profitability,

I haven't been listening too closely, but this is the first realistic mention I've seen that actually says what the "AI race" is or should be about.