> My takeaway from this is that it's incredibly validating as a business model. Inference is _highly_ profitable.

The problem is you can't just separate training costs from inference costs. If OpenAI just didn't train a new model for the next five years, sure, they'd do OK. Assuming all those dirt cheap Chinese models nipping at their heels don't make up the gap while OpenAI is resting on their laurels.

Without being a frontier model (read: continuous, incredibly expensive training), they effectively don't have much to sell. So inference and training costs are intertwined to some extent.