OpenAI Bets Big on AI Dominance, Faces Staggering Losses

According to financial documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is plotting a dramatic path toward profitability by the end of the decade, but the journey will be marked by substantial losses along the way. As of November 13, 2025, the company reportedly expects to rack up around $74 billion in operating losses in 2028 alone, as it aggressively invests in computing infrastructure, chips, and data centers to meet what it sees as insatiable demand for AI capabilities.

This year, OpenAI is projected to burn through roughly $9 billion on $13 billion in sales, a cash burn rate of approximately 70% of revenue. The financial trajectory only gets steeper before it improves, with the company's operating losses expected to balloon to roughly three-quarters of its 2028 revenue. In contrast, competitor Anthropic anticipates breaking even that same year.

OpenAI's plan hinges on a bet for AI dominance, as the company has signed up to $1.4 trillion in computing deals over the next eight years. It is also spending almost $100 billion on backup data-center capacity to prepare for unforeseen demand from future products and research. CEO Sam Altman has described this massive upfront investment as necessary to meet the growing demand for AI.

However, this strategy requires near-constant fundraising to keep the startup afloat, and it could backfire if markets cool on AI or its near-term profitability. Investors have already shown concerns about AI spending and whether there will be enough revenue to support the extensive AI infrastructure buildout.