Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event on Wednesday, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar was addressing the potential challenges of financing chips for her company’s artificial intelligence tools when she stumbled into a bit of a verbal misstep.
She told moderator Sarah Krouse, the Journal’s tech and media editor, that OpenAI was looking for an “ecosystem” of banks, private equity firms and perhaps even governmental entities to help with financing chips. Friar went on to describe a “backstop” that would allow “the financing to happen.”
Krouse sought a clarification: “So, some federal backstop for chip investment?”
“Exactly,” Friar responded.
But, judging by what happened next, not exactly.
That same day, Friar took to LinkedIn to correct her comments, stating the opposite of what she had just confirmed on stage. She conceded that her use of the word “backstop” had “muddied the point.”
“OpenAI is not seeking a government backstop for our infrastructure commitments,” Friar wrote on LinkedIn. “As the full clip of my answer shows, I was making the point that American strength in technology will come from building real industrial capacity which requires the private sector and government playing their part. As I said, the U.S. government has been incredibly forward-leaning and has really understood that AI is a national strategic asset.”
Friar’s on-stage gaffe, and subsequent walking back of her comments, illustrates the perils of public speaking for CFOs, and the high-stakes consequences of getting the messaging wrong. The OpenAI finance chief’s choice to post a correction on LinkedIn was exceptional, too, since executives typically turn to a team of public relations experts to swat away any communications crises with a carefully choreographed message. For better or worse, some executives, like Friar, are now choosing to skip traditional media channels altogether and address the public directly through LinkedIn or other social channels.
Judging by the replies made under Friar’s LinkedIn post, the damage had already been done.
“In those almost naive words lies a simple truth: AI spending has become the ‘too big to fail’ of this late cycle,” wrote one user. “And that candid statement comes from the CFO of the company at the very center of the AI frenzy, someone who has probably run the cash-flow analysis 101 and knows the truth behind those spending commitments. Every market cycle has its defining quote, and this one might well be remembered alongside Sun Microsystems’ famous letter to shareholders.”
That appeared to be a reference to Sun Microsystems’ former CEO Sean McNealy’s 2002 shareholder letter, which called into question investors’ “ridiculous” assumptions about the money they poured into the company.
Friar’s misstep follows a similar slipup by Eli Lilly’s CFO on the company’s weight-loss drugs back in June.
As many CFOs will tell you, public speaking is becoming more, not less, important for their roles.
“For a CFO to influence peers and have a seat at the table, you have to listen and communicate effectively,” one finance chief recently told CFO.com.
Whether on earnings calls or at media events, one wrong word can quickly sour market sentiments.
