Davos 2026: OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar 1/21/26

Squawk Pod

CNBC

Business News, News, Investing, Business

4.2 • 543 Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar joins Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Friar discusses AI’s potential, competition with Gemini and Claude, and growing both the consumer and enterprise businesses. Plus, the OpenAI executive discusses the guidelines for ChatGPT as it expands access and opens an advertising revenue stream. In this episode: Becky Quick, @BeckyQuick Joe Kernen, @JoeSquawk Andrew Ross Sorkin, @andrewrsorkin Cameron Costa, @CameronCostaNY

Transcript

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0:00.0	What we're finding is consumers are going direct to chat GPT, right?
0:07.6	800 million people.
0:09.1	When I was here a year ago, we weren't even quite at 300.
0:12.6	So we've over 3xed in just a year.
0:14.6	Open AI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Fryer on set with our team at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
0:22.6	It's a pretty exciting time for AI. You can't walk around the conference floor without talking about it.
0:27.6	The Open AI exec on staying ahead of the AI curve and on the company's newest revenue streams.
0:34.6	We've over 5 million developers developing on the platform.
0:38.3	Commerce and into ads is yet another way to think about the 95% of users who today access for free.
0:45.3	Plus, what moral compass guides this powerful technology as it innovates?
0:51.3	Open AI's North Star is AGI for the benefit of humanity.
0:55.0	We're a research lab.
0:56.5	That's what we go on.
0:57.4	And it's not for the benefit of humanity who can pay.
1:00.8	I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa.
1:03.2	SquawkPod reports from Davos, 2026.
1:06.3	OpenAI CFO Sarah Fryer begins right now.
1:17.9	Thank you. CFO Sarah Fryer begins right now. It's another day in Davos.
1:20.6	Decision makers in every industry and many governments are trudging through the snow
1:25.5	and the wind in the Alps for an annual meeting
1:28.1	that we as a news organization watch very closely.
1:33.2	The news is revolving around what's happening here at the World Economic Forum today.
	...

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