OpenAI’s abyssal losses

Almost $20 Billion lost since the beginning of the year

More than twelve billion dollars gone in just three months. The staggering losses reported by OpenAI in the third quarter are unprecedented, not just for a startup, illustrating of the outsized ambitions of its CEO, Sam Altman, who is racing toward the creation of superintelligence. It also marks the largest deficit ever recorded by an US company — excluding purely “accounting” losses tied to asset write-downs or exceptional tax charges.

The deepening losses are striking: over the whole of last year, OpenAI lost “only” five billion dollars. This reflects a new phase of expansion for the creator of ChatGPT, which has been signing massive contracts to secure the computing power needed to train and operate its generative AI models. “This is the bet that we’re making and we’re taking a risk along with that,” admitted Sam Altman in a podcast interview over the weekend.

A figure hidden until now

Because OpenAI is not publicly listed, it does not disclose its financial results. But its losses can be inferred from the accounts of Microsoft, its main shareholder. The tech giant is required to include OpenAI’s deficit in its own financial statements, proportional to its ownership stake. Until recently, Microsoft had buried the figure in an “other” category, without specifying its origin.

In its third-quarter results (corresponding to the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year), Microsoft for the first time detailed the impact of its OpenAI investment: a pre-tax loss of $4.1 billion. Asked about this, CFO Amy Hood confirmed the figure reflects only OpenAI’s losses, excluding any exceptional charges the groupe may have booked itself, such as costs linked to OpenAI’s restructuring.

Nearly $20 Billion in losses for 2025

Last week, the Redmond-based company also disclosed its exact stake in OpenAI’s capital: 32.5% before the recent restructuring — and now 27% after a new investment by Japan’s SoftBank conglomerate. Based on these figures, OpenAI’s total losses for the third quarter amount to between $12.5 and $12.8 billion. The company is estimated to have lost around $5 billion between April and June, and $2 billion between January and March.

Unlike the third quarter number, those two earlier figures remain estimates, since Microsoft’s exact ownership share at those dates and the extent of OpenAI’s contribution to the “other” category can only be approximated. Still, applying the same assumptions yields a total annual loss of $5 billion for 2024, consistent with figures previously reported by several US media outlets.

More losses ahead with Sora?

The loss reflected in Microsoft’s accounts does include one major unknown: whether it incorporates exceptional accounting charges on OpenAI’s side, which could explain the sharp rise between the second and third quarters. These could be tied to a $300 billion contract with Oracle or to the recent change in corporate structure. The deficit during the fourth quarter should shed more light on the company’s financial position.

Regardless, the trend is clear: OpenAI’s losses continue to grow — a direct consequence of its success. As ChatGPT gains popularity — now boasting over 800 million weekly users — the cost of running inferences far exceeds revenues from paid subscriptions. And the launch of Sora, a TikTok-inspired platform for creating and sharing AI-generated videos, could deepen the deficit even further.

A turn toward advertising

These colossal losses likely explain OpenAI’s push to find new revenue streams. In early October, the startup introduced in-chat purchases within ChatGPT, from which it takes a commission. It has already signed a partnership with Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, and the feature is expected to expand soon to the million merchants using Shopify’s e-commerce tools.

Meanwhile, Sam Altman has opened the door to monetizing Sora, just a week after its launch, initially through a paid tier allowing more video creations, and later, potentially, through sponsored clips. More broadly, OpenAI’s pivot toward advertising now seems inevitable. In June, its CEO admitted he was no longer “entirely opposed” to it. While formats are still being defined, he insists ChatGPT’s answers will “never be altered in favor of an advertiser.”

$1.4 trillion in planned investments

According to Altman, OpenAI’s revenue is “well above” the $13 billion recently reported in the press. “We do plan for revenue to grow steeply,” he adds, citing new ventures such as an AI-focused cloud platform and a new device meant to replace smartphones. In May, the company acquired the startup founded by former Apple design chief Jony Ive. By 2027, Altman is targeting $100 billion in annual revenue.

Convinced of AI’s massive potential, the OpenAI chief is thinking on an unprecedented scale. In recent months, the company has committed to investing $1.4 trillion over five years to build data centers with a combined capacity of 30 gigawatts— the equivalent of a city of 30 million people. According to an internal document obtained by The Information, OpenAI expects to burn through $115 billion in cash by 2029.

Photo: OpenAI