--- title: "OpenAI Is Putting Profits First, Yet It’s Bleeding an Astronomical Amount of Money" description: "ChatGPT creator OpenAI is hemorrhaging massive amounts of cash that it's failing to make up for in revenue, according to investor documents." date: "2024-10-02" modified: "2024-10-02" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-profit-bleeding-money" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai" - "ai industry" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI Is Putting Profits First, Yet It’s Bleeding an Astronomical Amount of Money ![ChatGPT creator OpenAI is hemorrhaging massive amounts of cash that it's failing to make up for in revenue, according to investor documents.]() *\Image: Stefano Guidi/Getty Images\* ## Not Breaking Even ChatGPT creator OpenAI is hemorrhaging massive amounts of cash and failing to make up for it in revenue, [*The New York Times* reports](). Per the report, OpenAI projected in a document passed around to potential investors that it expects to lose a staggering $5 billion this year — a figure that eclipses the company's projected year-end revenue of around $3.7 billion. The AI company chalked its sky-high costs up to employee salaries, office rent, and operating costs. Though $5 billion might be an undercount, as OpenAI failed to include noteworthy expenses like equity-based compensation for staffers "among several large expenses not fully explained in the documents," as the *NYT* put it. The news comes amid turmoil at OpenAI, which last week saw the[ shock departure]() of now-former chief technology officer [Mira Murati]() — the latest in a string of surprising and mysterious exits by high-profile executives — shortly before [OpenAI announced that it would be moving away]() from its famously nonprofit-driven model. The details of what such a change will entail are unclear. But moving forward, rather than having to defer to its nonprofit board, OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman will likely have much more control over the direction of the company, [its allegedly humanity-benefiting products](), and its priorities. But despite putting profits first, the company is likely still many years out from making any profit — and [investors are starting to ask some big questions]() about whether that will ever change. ## Money Train The documents reviewed by the *NYT* were handed to potential investors looking to take part in OpenAI's ongoing funding round. The still-private company is hoping to raise upwards of $7 billion, a number that would bring OpenAI's overall value up to an astonishing $150 billion. And yet, OpenAI's long-term revenue model remains murky at best. In the documents, OpenAI reportedly boasted that, as of June, over 350 million people used its products each month. That's an impressive number, sure, but keeping up with operating costs for those users isn't cheap. Only about ten million ChatGPT users cough up 20 bucks for a monthly subscription for access to OpenAI's more advanced models. Given the incredible amount of [energy]() and [capital]() that it takes to power frontier AI models, it's unlikely that any AI company can subsist entirely on subscription fees. And in the meantime, OpenAI will need to keep on bleeding billions of dollars as it builds out the infrastructure needed to sustain these models. **More on AI and making money:** [*There's a Small Problem With the AI Industry: It's Making Absolutely No Money*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()