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Leaked financial docs show OpenAI is losing billions of dollars a year

arstechnica.com

June 17, 2026

2 min read

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57/100

Summary

OpenAI's revenue is projected to increase from $3.7 billion in 2024 to $13.07 billion in 2025, according to leaked financial documents. Despite this revenue growth, the company is facing significantly larger expenses, resulting in annual losses in the billions.

Key Takeaways

OpenAI's revenue grew from $3.7 billion in 2024 to $13.07 billion in 2025, with monthly revenues nearing $2 billion by the end of 2025.
OpenAI's research and development expenses surged from $7.81 billion in 2024 to $19.18 billion in 2025, including $10.59 billion paid to Microsoft.
The company's operating loss increased from $8.78 billion in 2024 to $20.92 billion in 2025, despite a slight improvement in operating losses as a percentage of revenues from 237% to 160%.
OpenAI's costs of revenue rose from $2.65 billion in 2024 to $7.5 billion in 2025, reflecting significant compute costs associated with model inference.

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Community Sentiment

Mixed

Positives

The high profitability of inference suggests a strong business model for AI applications, potentially leading to sustainable growth despite current losses.
OpenAI's ability to attract 900 million weekly active users indicates significant interest and engagement with their AI tools, which could translate to future monetization opportunities.
The discussion around improving inference costs highlights an ongoing commitment to optimizing AI performance, which is crucial for maintaining competitive advantage.

Concerns

R&D costs are a major concern, as cutting them could jeopardize OpenAI's relevance in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.
The reliance on a high-touch business model raises questions about long-term sustainability, especially with the availability of cheaper alternatives in the market.
The struggle to convert free users to paid subscribers suggests potential challenges in monetizing AI services effectively, which could impact future profitability.