OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, reportedly lost somewhere between $34 billion and $39 billion last year, according to financial figures circulating ahead of its planned initial public offering.
According to Reuters, citing a Financial Times report, audited financial figures show OpenAI spent $34 billion in 2025 as it pushed to dominate the rapidly expanding AI market. A separate report highlighted by Stocktwits put the loss figure closer to $39 billion — a gap that likely reflects how different accounting treatments handle items like compute costs, employee compensation, and one-time charges.
The numbers are staggering even by Silicon Valley standards. For context, Stocktwits noted the figures invite comparison to other high-profile private companies like Anthropic and SpaceX, both of which have also drawn massive investment while operating at a loss.
OpenAI has been on an aggressive spending spree, pouring money into compute infrastructure, talent, and safety research as it races against rivals including Google, Meta, and its own spinoff competitor Anthropic. The company has raised billions in recent funding rounds at a valuation exceeding $150 billion.
The timing of these disclosures — or leaks — is notable. Companies typically tighten financial disclosure ahead of an IPO, making pre-listing figures especially scrutinized by potential investors trying to gauge a path to profitability.
Why it matters: if OpenAI goes public while losing tens of billions of dollars annually, it will test whether Wall Street believes the AI boom can eventually translate into sustainable profit — a question with implications for the entire tech sector.