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

Leaked financial documents indicate that OpenAI is incurring substantial operating losses, even with its rapidly expanding revenues. The company's audited financial statements show revenue projections of $13.07 billion in 2025, with monthly revenues nearing $2 billion by the end of that year. However, these figures are overshadowed by even larger expenses.

OpenAI's research and development costs significantly outstripped its revenues, growing to $19.18 billion in 2025. This includes over $10 billion paid to Microsoft for R&D in the same year, reflecting the immense costs associated with training new AI models. Additionally, the cost of revenue, encompassing expenses for product production and distribution, surged to $7.5 billion in 2025, largely due to the compute demands of responding to increasing user prompts.

Overall, OpenAI's loss from operations escalated to $20.92 billion in 2025. While the operating losses as a percentage of revenue showed a slight improvement, the sheer scale of the losses raises concerns for investors. A reported net loss of nearly $39 billion in 2025 included a non-recurring accounting charge of approximately $30 billion; without this, the net loss would have been around $8 billion.

To achieve profitability, OpenAI must address its escalating costs, particularly in R&D. The company also faces challenges with enterprise customers questioning token-based pricing and demanding a clear return on investment. Increased competition in the subscription market could also pressure OpenAI to lower prices, potentially exacerbating short-term operating losses.