Speaking at a conference hosted by Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney on Tuesday, Sam Altman said he expected entry-level office jobs to disappear much faster after the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

Instead, he said the reality has been different because many jobs still depend heavily on human interaction.

“I’m delighted to be wrong about this,” Altman said during a discussion with CBA chief executive Matt Comyn. “I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened.”

Altman added that he now understands why the disruption has been slower than expected.

“I now think I understand more about why it hasn’t, and I’m obviously grateful but that is an area where my intuitions were just off,” he said.

The OpenAI boss explained that while AI tools can handle technical tasks, many people still prefer dealing with humans directly. He said he once experimented with using AI to reply to Slack and email messages but later returned to answering some personally.

“We really do care about people,” Altman said. “We really do care about our interactions with people.”

That experience, he said, changed how he thinks about the future of work and the role AI will play inside companies.

“I don’t think we’re going to have the kind of jobs apocalypse that some of the companies in our space advocate or talk about,” he said.

Even so, several large companies have already linked job cuts and restructuring to AI adoption. Firms including HSBC, Amazon, Standard Chartered and Commonwealth Bank of Australia have said automation and AI tools are changing staffing needs in some departments.

Matt Comyn said AI would likely lead to smaller teams in some parts of the economy, although workers may also progress faster as technology handles routine tasks.

CBA has been investing heavily in AI and staff training as banks prepare for wider adoption of the technology. According to the bank, it plans to spend about A$90 million on reskilling programmes while annual technology investment has reached A$2.4 billion.

Altman also said AI technology is advancing faster than many businesses and institutions can absorb. While AI tools have improved rapidly, he believes enterprise adoption is still at an early stage.

He said OpenAI had been “roughly right” about the pace of technological development but “pretty wrong” about the social and economic consequences.

The remarks come as OpenAI prepares for a possible stock market listing in the United States. Reuters reported last week that the company plans to confidentially file for an initial public offering in the coming weeks.

The report said OpenAI could seek a valuation of about $1 trillion and raise at least $60 billion, which would place it among the world’s most valuable technology companies.

Details shared with investors, and reported by Axios, outline a strong growth path. The company expects ad revenue to reach $11 billion in 2027, then $25 billion in 2028, and $53 billion in 2029.

These figures depend on one key assumption where OpenAI believes its products could reach 2.75 billion weekly users by the end of the decade.

Early this year, OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT for some users in the United States. The test focused on people using the free tier and the lower-priced Go plan.

Within six weeks, the pilot crossed $100 million in annualised revenue. By March, more than 600 advertisers had signed up.

That early traction gives a clearer picture of where the company is heading. Ad is no longer an experiment but an indispensable part of how OpenAI plans to make more revenue, alongside subscriptions and enterprise deals.

The market is large but crowded. Alphabet reported $294.69 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, while Meta posted $196.18 billion.

OpenAI is trying to take a share of that ad market by using a different advantage, ultimately boosting revenue. In chat-based systems, users usually state exactly what they want, which could make adverts more precise.

Still, there are issues. Some analysts have warned that showing ads inside ChatGPT could affect how people trust the service but OpenAI says it has not seen that so far.

The company reports low dismissal rates and no drop in its trust metrics since the pilot began.

Not everyone is taking the same route. Competitor Anthropic has said its Claude chatbot will remain ad-free, drawing a line between the two approaches.

Meanwhile, advertising is expected to carry a large share of OpenAI’s revenue as it tries to keep up with the high cost of building and running its AI systems.

The company is also strengthening itself as a business that can scale in the same way as the largest internet platforms, with ads being a big part of that plan.

Yuhuai (Tony) Wu announced late on Monday night that he was leaving the company. “It’s time for my next chapter,” Wu wrote in a post on X. 

“It is an era with full possibilities: a small team armed with AIs can move mountains and redefine what’s possible.”

Less than 24 hours later, Jimmy Ba followed. In his own post on Tuesday afternoon, Ba thanked Musk and said he would remain close to the company. 

“Enormous thanks to @elonmusk for bringing us together on this incredible journey. So proud of what the xAI team has done and will continue to stay close as a friend of the team,” the post read in part.

Neither Wu nor Ba explained their reasons for leaving or outlined their next steps. Both departures were publicly cordial. Ba, who reported directly to Musk, did not respond to a request for comment sent via X messaging.

The exits mean six of xAI’s original 12 co-founders have now left the company since 2024. Infrastructure lead Kyle Kosic departed for OpenAI in mid-2024. 

He was followed by former Google researcher Christian Szegedy in February 2025. Igor Babuschkin left in August to start a venture firm, while Greg Yang, previously at Microsoft, stepped down last month due to health reasons.

The Financial Times reported that Ba’s resignation followed challenges within xAI’s technical team over demands to improve the performance of its Grok chatbot, as Musk pushes to close the gap with competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

We were unable to independently confirm those internal discussions.

The co-founders’ departures come days after SpaceX announced it would acquire xAI in a deal that values the combined company at $1.25 trillion, with plans to list later this year. 

The transaction is part of Musk’s goal to expand computing capacity, including proposals to place data centres in orbit to support future workloads.

xAI’s flagship product, Grok, has faced complaints in recent months for erratic behaviour and signs of internal tampering. 

Separate changes to the company’s image-generation tools also led to a surge in deepfake pornography on the platform, triggering legal and regulatory attention.

The transaction links a rocket and satellite heavyweight with a company built to develop advanced conversational systems, pushing SpaceX far beyond launch services and into the core infrastructure behind next-generation computing.

People familiar with the agreement say SpaceX is valued at $1 trillion, while xAI carries a price tag of $250 billion. 

Together, that creates a private entity worth about $1.25 trillion, a figure that eclipses Vodafone’s takeover of Mannesmann in 2000, which stood unchallenged for more than two decades.

Under the terms of the deal, investors in xAI will receive 0.1433 shares of SpaceX for each xAI share they hold. Some senior executives at xAI are said to have the option of taking cash instead, priced at $75.46 per share. 

The combined company is expected to price its shares at roughly $527.

Describing the acquisition, Musk said: “This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI’s mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars!”

The merger gives SpaceX a direct route into high-demand computing infrastructure as power, cooling and chip supply become key limits to growth. 

Musk has repeatedly argued that land-based data centres are nearing their limits, both economically and environmentally. Space, in his view, provides cheaper energy management and faster scaling within a few years.

SpaceX already tops the private space market and was last valued at about $800 billion during an internal share sale. xAI, which had been valued at $230 billion late last year, brings not just software expertise but also access to vast data streams and distribution channels created through earlier internal mergers.

This deal also tightens what investors often call the “Muskonomy”. Tesla, Neuralink, The Boring Company and the social platform X now sit alongside a unified space and computing operation. Musk has done this before. 

Tesla’s purchase of SolarCity in 2016 and the earlier share swap that moved X under xAI’s control both followed the same pattern of consolidation.

Attention now turns to the public markets. People close to the matter say the combined business is preparing for a major stock market debut in 2026, with expectations that it could command a valuation above $1.5 trillion. 

If that happens, it would rank among the most valuable listed companies in the world.

Regulators are unlikely to stay quiet. SpaceX holds billions of dollars in contracts with NASA, the US Department of Defence and intelligence agencies. 

Any transfer of assets, staff or technology will attract scrutiny, particularly given Musk’s overlapping leadership roles across several firms.

Neither SpaceX nor xAI responded immediately to requests for comment.

The move, which began quietly in March 2025, shows a change in strategy for Africa’s highest-valued startup.

The layoffs have hit the company’s compliance, legal, human resources, and sales units, roles Flutterwave now appears to be relocating to its home market, Nigeria. The rationale points to the fact that Nigeria is cheaper to operate in and is more stable from a regulatory standpoint.

Less than a year ago, Flutterwave let go of 3% of its global workforce after shutting down its Barter virtual card service. This new wave of layoffs is more aggressive, pointing to investor pressure to deliver profitability ahead of a long-anticipated public listing.

In Kenya, sources familiar with the matter confirmed that about 10 of the company’s 20 employees were dismissed, with a few more resigning in the weeks that followed. 

A similar story played out in South Africa, where over half of the staff, mostly salespeople, were affected. Fewer than eight employees remain in the Nairobi office, mostly handling regulatory compliance.

“They’re cutting roles in countries they see as expensive to run,” one source close to the company’s leadership told TechCabal. “Flutterwave is also hiring for the same roles in the Nigerian market.”

The company acknowledged the layoffs in a formal statement, calling them part of a performance and strategy-led review.

“These actions are a normal but necessary part of ensuring we operate at the highest level across every part of the business,” Flutterwave said. “We recognise and reward impact, and we make changes when expectations are not met.”

This restructuring phase has seen not just exits but promotions and bonuses for staff who exceeded expectations. But we see that the company is narrowing its focus. Flutterwave is doubling down on enterprise payments and its cross-border remittance app, Send, while strengthening partnerships and infrastructure in Nigeria.

However, there’s a regulatory elephant in the room. Despite operating in Kenya for years, Flutterwave still doesn’t have a full Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence. 

The Central Bank of Kenya only granted name approval in 2023, and the company is still awaiting formal clearance. In South Africa, the situation is similar; a larger market with no license in hand.

Still, Flutterwave insists it’s pushing ahead. “We are actively engaging with regulators,” the company said. “Our Kenyan application is progressing as planned.”

The layoffs come in the middle of Flutterwave’s operational integrity investigations. In April 2024, the company reportedly suffered a ₦11 billion security breach, although it claimed that customer funds were untouched. 

This, along with a history of frozen accounts and compliance queries in Nigeria and Kenya, has increased the need for a more disciplined structure.

Flutterwave last raised funds in early 2022, a $250 million Series D round that valued it at over $3 billion. Since then, profitability has become the north star. CEO Olugbenga Agboola confirmed as much earlier this year in an interview with Bloomberg, saying the company will only go public “once it becomes profitable.”

Some of the company’s most visible executives in East Africa are also gone. Leon Kiptum, the former regional manager for East Africa, and Saruni Maina, associate VP for stablecoins, both exited after less than two years with the firm.

The timing of these layoffs is telling, as regulators are tightening their hold and investors are demanding returns. Flutterwave is taking no chances; shedding weight, shifting talent to cheaper locations, and doubling down on its most bankable markets. 

At the centre of the talks is how much equity Microsoft will retain after pumping over $13 billion into the company.

According to reports, Microsoft is ready to give up a portion of its stake in exchange for something more valuable, ongoing access to OpenAI’s future AI models beyond the current 2030 agreement. This shows a change in priorities. Microsoft appears to want long-term technological leverage rather than a dominant equity position.

The Financial Times, quoting people familiar with the matter, notes that the original 2019 contract that kicked off Microsoft’s involvement is being reworked entirely. Back then, the software giant had put in $1 billion, laying the foundation for what became a major player in global AI development. 

Now, OpenAI is on the brink of a more aggressive commercial path, but with a twist—it still wants to preserve control under its nonprofit board, even as it converts its business arm into a public benefit corporation (PBC).

That’s a sticking point.

Microsoft reportedly needs to sign off on the restructuring, and sources say it’s not an easy sell. The deal has been made harder by growing friction between the two companies. What began as a strategic alliance is now more of a competitive coexistence.

OpenAI’s enterprise goals are expanding. Its massive Stargate AI infrastructure project, planned in partnership with SoftBank and Oracle and valued at up to $500 billion, is one example that seems to be pushing Microsoft into a more defensive posture.

Some within Microsoft are not hiding their displeasure. “Arrogant” is the word reportedly used to describe OpenAI’s recent conduct. That issue is being aggravated by regulatory oversight. Authorities in California and Delaware are watching the restructuring closely, and investor demands are increasing.

Just last week, The Information revealed that OpenAI told some investors it would be cutting back on how much of its revenue it shares with Microsoft as part of the restructuring. That adjustment appears to favour future returns to new investors over existing ones, putting Microsoft, once its largest backer, in a more uncertain position.

Both firms have refused to comment publicly on the negotiations. Silence, however, isn’t unusual at this stage, especially when valuations are in play and IPO ambitions in the background.

In January, Microsoft had already started changing direction. It revised some of its OpenAI deal terms shortly after entering a separate venture with Oracle and SoftBank to build next-generation AI data centres in the U.S. That was seen by analysts as a sign that Microsoft was preparing for a less central role in OpenAI’s future ecosystem.

Now, OpenAI is pressured on all sides. It raised $40 billion in new capital from backers like SoftBank, is under increased regulatory investigation, and still has to navigate Elon Musk’s objection of its drift towards commercialisation.

OpenAI wants to keep its nonprofit DNA intact. Microsoft wants reliable access to top-tier AI models. 

It became a reality when Ifeanyi and Kendall successfully delivered their first ever Internet service to a residential estate in Lagos. This was in 2012, and the startup is still on and running. 

Tizeti is focused on providing unlimited Internet to Nigeria and beyond at an affordable rate and is on a move to become a global brand. The paths to achieving this goal seem very achievable looking at the spectacular trajectory of the startup.

It has grown from just 2 persons who probably weren’t too sure of what they were doing to a company that currently generates N11 billion in revenue, spending only N400 million plus on marketing, and sponsored twice one of the biggest TV shows (Big Brother Naija) and many more in 10 years.  

As at today, Tizeti has not debt, either in Dollar or Naira. Tizeti has also a conference called NeXTGEN in 2021. Then in 2022, it hosted the second edition on Friday in Lagos – an annual event focused on Africa’s digital environment, which also commemorates its 10th anniversary. 

Further, Tizeti is an Internet Service Provider licensed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). It provides all of its services through Wifi.com.ng in Nigeria, Ghana Wifi in Nigeria, and Wifi Call. 

10 Years Journey

Kendall and Ifeanyi started Tizeti 10 years ago offering just 1 Mbps Internet to people living in a residential estate. Over the next two years, it started gathering momentum and finally launched to the public in Lekki Phase 1 in 2014 as Wifi.com.ng. 

The startup bootstrapped with no investors at all and was able to get to a $1 million ARR and 5000 users in 2017. And in that same year, Tizeti got accepted into Y Combinator and raised the largest seed round at the time of $2.1 million. 

That same 2017, it signed a partnership with Facebook and launched Express WiFi. “So in 2017, we had 5000 users, continued on our part of building business fundamentals, and by the next year, we raised $3 million.”

Tizeti used $2 million to grow from 5000 users to 100,000 users. That same year, Tizeti generated its first N1 billion in revenue, he said.

Fast forward to 2019, it expanded to Ghana – Ghana WiFi and secured LTE spectrum, and built on an LTE network. That same year it launched its voice service Wi-Fi Call. 

According to Kendall, Tizeti has been profitable for 3 out of the last 4 years of operation and 2022 paid its first dividend as a startup.

“And, if you have a 10-year-old as I have, you know, you’ve started to grow up, and so we need more and more adult supervision to bring in more guidance and we expanded our board. And we’ve also continued our expansion within Nigeria and expanded to Oyo State.”. 

In 2012, it generated N25 million at 160 exchange rates in revenue without any investor, a feat that only a very few startups, according to Kendall. 

“The next year, we felt very confident and that’s when we launched in 2014 as Wifi.com.ng. Even as young as we are, we’re able to get international press in July 2014 from one of the top Wi-Fi blogs at the time.”

Further, Kendall said in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Tizeti increased its network capacity to 100 gigabits per second. Consequently, at the end of the 2021, financial year, after three profitable years, Tizeti issued a dividend of two Naira per share.

In 2022, it announced a partnership with Microsoft, this would mean that Tizeti has now partnered with most of the large tech companies in the world – Microsoft Meta, Google, and Netflix. 

Ahead of Competition 

Tizeti is ahead of any competition when it comes to data plans. It offers a 100MBps unlimited Internet package at a paltry fee of N12,500 for 30 days which no other ISP is offering in Nigeria. 

Tizeti owns telecom towers that are solar powered, which are super capital efficient as it eliminates the cost of buying diesel and maintenance. 

“We build it at 20 to 25% of the cost of our competitors. There are no generators. There are no diesel tanks, so we get a lot of cost savings from it, even the land lease,” Kendall disclosed at the event.

According to Kendall, the land Tizeti leases for the towers is a lot smaller than what its competition will require. “They will require space for a generator on a diesel tank. They will also require diesel every two to three days, for us, we don’t have to deal with that.’ 

“Solar is very low maintenance on all of this cost savings. We offer it to our customers in the form of unlimited internet. That’s why we’re able to undercut the competition and offer it at a price that is 30 to 50% less than your data caps plans.”

How the Idea of Tizeti Was Conceived

The idea of Tizeti was conceived when Kendall wrote a blog post at a time when was doing his Master’s Degree Program in Canada as far back as 2006. Although, he never had thought of it coming to reality.

“My school was one of the first schools in the world that had outdoor Wi-Fi on the campus. I wrote a thesis on what will happen if we all had Wi-Fi, which was broadband. 

“So pondered that not a lot of people using the internet. And I said it will be great that wherever I live, I would love to put Wi-Fi there. But this was just me speaking it live. 

“I didn’t think about it that much beyond just writing the blog post, the blog post is still up. And a lot of people refer to it online because I also made a lot of project predictions about things like Google Maps.”

Years later, the dream became a reality after Kendall and Ifeanyi successfully delivered Internet to residents in an estate in Lagos. 

Next Frontier & Initial Public Offering (IPO)

Tizeti is growing and wants to continue to expand as the goal is to provide the Internet to entire Africa, not just Nigeria. It is Africa’s number in voice and video but with intentions to become a global player. 

To achieve this, the startup has near-term plans but has a long way to go, Kendall said. In the meantime, there are plans to expand to 10 more states in Nigeria and two francophone countries in Africa. 

Tizeti intends to offer an IPO before the year runs out, and an opportunity for Nigerians to invest long-term and create wealth for themselves. 

“Nigerians now have the opportunity to explore the public markets for equity and debt to fund Tizeti’s next phase of growth. 

“We want to explore and pick an Exchange – Tizeti is looking at NASDAQ, London NGX, and others. Then, we will select parties to the transaction, clear regulatory requirements, file documents, and commence trading, while building the next frontier with those of you that come on board.” 

To be kept abreast of the long road Nigerians should always check www.tizeti.com/invest and put their information to know as the potential IPO progresses.

Journey to Silicon Valley 

In 2016, the two cofounders took a leap of faith and traveled to Silicon Valley in the United States. This was after they had met Y Combinator in Nigeria and offered to provide them with Internet coverage at an event. 

Kendall and Ifeanyi were encouraged to apply to Y Combinator for funding. At that time, they had no money for a flight ticket to the US. It was only surviving from the revenue it generated over time. 

They decided to take a leap of faith and travel to progress discussions with Facebook after the cofounders had talks with Mark Zuckerberg when he visited Nigeria. 

“Our calculation was not even to get into YC, it was to go there and meet with the Facebook team and progress our potential partnership, which looked like a long shot.

“We progressed the Facebook partnership and by the time we came back, email those signed off the contract.” 

Further, Tizeti has an ongoing partnership with Microsoft another multi-billion global brand. It took over 3 years for Kendall to close the partnership with Microsoft despite being a fanatical former employee. The partnership deal with Microsoft was signed off in March 2023.

He said: “In 2017, I also went on a trip to Microsoft to talk to Microsoft about a potential partnership at that time this was on the back of raising a seed round and understanding that also Microsoft will be interested in bringing customers online. 

“Nothing happened but I kept on with Microsoft because this is very personal for me, especially for me because I learned how to code at age 12. And it was my love for Microsoft and Windows that made me become an engineer. 

After my MSc Program, I applied to Microsoft and worked for Microsoft. And over the next couple of years. We kept on talking and in December 2021 the due diligence toss. I was wondering about having the conversation but they also said they wanted to speak to someone that’s it’s me they’ve been talking to. 

” So, I involved Ifeanyi, although I didn’t give him any background knowledge of it. But I’m like we have to close Microsoft. We’ve been on this thing a lot, but I don’t know what Ifeanyi said to them on that call. And we closed Microsoft in December 2020. And they came down in March of this year to launch the partnership. 

Current Milestones

At the time of writing this report, Tizeti currently delivers a whopping 190 terabytes of data a day. Tizeti has 3884 hotspot locations, 2.8 million users in Nigeria, builds an average of one tower every month since its inception

Tizeti in the last 10 years has generated over N11 billion in revenue. It has about 760 staff that have either worked with it or who are still working at Tizeti, or half of that is still working there. 

“Surprisingly, the startup has $0 in debt and spent only 404 million on marketing in 10 years. 

“We are debt free. That has not happened. You think of all the companies that have died along the way. That is one of the reasons. We have no debt both local and international.”

Conclusion and What the Future Holds for Tizeti

Tizeti is already laying the foundation for the future. The pace at which it has accelerated in the last 10 years with good financial records, and strong strategic partnerships with the biggest tech companies in the world, are all indicators that Tizeti is on its way to greatness. 

Potential Nigerian investors anticipate a successful IPO, a move that offers it to the next frontier. Tizeti is on a clear-cut journey to becoming a unicorn in the next 10 years as long as Internet access remains a major challenge in Africa.