The issue is that Russia has shown us that they don’t give a shit about how large the benefit is, they would rather be imperially hostile. Germany and the EU thought that hundreds of billions in trade would be enough to deter Russia, but it clearly wasn’t.
The West is now, rightfully so, worried that China is thinking the same way in regards to Taiwan.
Like others said, it’s a letter of intent.
It’s basically a standing, non-binding contract. It’s often used for raising money and getting funding to start building out production.
Basically, if both companies honor it, it means OpenAI would get the first chips.
Not honoring these types of things can often fall back negatively on both parties.
Kind of like when people go into a shop, or call them, and ask them to put aside an item.