As OpenAI prepares for its highly anticipated IPO, a leaked audited financial document has exposed the staggering burn rate of the AI giant. According to Ars Technica, independent journalist Ed Zitron obtained the latest internal financials: revenue tripled to over $13 billion in 2025, but operating losses exceeded $20 billion. Net loss on paper hit nearly $39 billion, mostly due to a one-time accounting adjustment tied to the company's shift to a for-profit structure.
Revenue Soared to $13.07B, R&D Spend to $19.18B
The leak shows OpenAI's total revenue jumped from $3.7 billion in 2024 to $13.07 billion in 2025. Monthly revenue was approaching $2 billion by year-end. ChatGPT had 900 million weekly active users, including roughly 50 million paid subscribers. But the cost side tells a different story: research and development expenses totaled $19.18 billion (up from $7.81 billion in 2024), already surpassing total revenue. Of that, $10.59 billion was paid to Microsoft for R&D and cloud computing. Revenue cost (including inference compute) hit $7.5 billion, while sales and marketing reached $5.73 billion.
Operating Loss of $20.92B, Real Net Loss ~$8B
The heavy spending led to an operating loss of $20.92 billion in 2025, representing 160% of revenue (improved from 237% in 2024, but the absolute loss widened). Net loss stood at nearly $39 billion, but the document specifies that ~$30 billion is a one-time accounting adjustment related to the transition to a for-profit entity. Excluding that, the real net loss was about $8 billion. OpenAI told investors it does not expect to turn a profit until 2030 at the earliest.
Competitive Pressure from Anthropic, Sora Shut Down
External challenges are mounting. Enterprise clients are increasingly dissatisfied with token-based pricing models and demanding clear ROI. Rival Anthropic's rapid growth threatens to force OpenAI to cut prices, which would deepen near-term losses. To stem the bleeding and focus resources, OpenAI reportedly shut down its once-hyped video generator Sora in March 2026 and axed several side projects. The company is now prioritizing code generation and enterprise customers. Despite the grim finances, OpenAI secured a historic $122 billion funding round this March at an $852 billion valuation, giving it ample cash to continue the AI arms race.