Li_DanLi_Dan ・ Oct. 11, 2024
OpenAI Said to See Losses Triple to $14 Billion in 2026, Unprofitable Until 2029
OpenAI expected to make an annual profit of $14 billion in 2029 after a total of $44 billion losses between 2023 and 2028, according to a report cited the internal documents.

TMTPost --  The world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) startup OpenAI may not achieve profitability until 2029, according to a report cited the internal documents.

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OpenAI will remain unprofitable until 2029 and its could incur losses up to $14 billion in 2016, nearly tripling this year’s expected loss, according to an analysis of data from OpenAI financial reports seen by The Information. It is reported that OpenAI expected to make an annual profit of $14 billion in 2029 after a total of $44 billion losses between 2023 and 2028. The aforementioned losses exclude stock compensation, which is one of OpenAI’s biggest expenses, according to the report. It said the company recorded stock compensation of $15 billion in the first half of year, likely equivalent to the revenue in the same period.

The report highlights how costly the AI development OpenAI delivered with massive investment and operational costs.  Based on the reported financial reports, OpenAI projected it will spend more than $200 billion through the end of the decade, excluding stock compensation. Around 60% to 80% of its expected annual spending will go toward either training or running the AI models.

The financial reports also showed how fast OpenAI has been burning money. The report commented OpenAI cash burn pace seems far less than previsously thought as it  burned through about $340 billion in from January to June this year, leaving it a cash of $1 billion on the balance sheet before its latest funding round. However, the reports suggested the cash burn could accelerate significantly in the next couple of years.  OpenAI calculated net losses of $3 billion for the first half of the year, while its steep net losses mainly result from expenses like stock compensation and computing costs, which don’t flow through its cash statement.

Prior to The Information, a report from the New York Times late September suggested OpenAI is burning through far more cash than it’s bringing in. OpenAI anticipated generated about $3.7 billion this year, largely from subscriptions to premium versions of ChatGPT and licensing its tech to third-party developers, but it still saw to lose roughly $5 billion for the year. The startup is reported to estimate the revenue will more than triple to $11.6 billion next year and $100 billion by 2029, representing a more than 2600% increase over the next five years, though it’s unclear whether it is working to manage its cash burn.

It is unsurprising that OpenAI has to keep fundrasing as it wants to meet the demand of AI revolution.

OpenAI announced last Tuesday that it has raised $6.6 billion in new funding at a $157 billion post-money valuation. The funding round made OpenAI one of the top three most valued startups across the world, along with SpaceX and ByteDance. The valuation is significantly higher than the $860 billion valuation from the company’s tender offer in February.

OpenAI didn’t disclose which investors joined in the latest funding round. Multiple media outlets reported existing investors and newcomer like SoftBank participated in.

The funding round was led by Thrive Capital, which put in $1.3 billion, Bloomberg reported. Microsoft Corp., OpenAI’s largest backer, invest about $750 million, on top of the $13 billion it had already invested in the startup, the report cited a person familiar with the matter. It is reported that other investors included Khosla Ventures, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Nvidia Corp., the leading AI chipmaker, investing firm Tiger Global Management, which put in $350 million, and Altimeter Capital, which invested at least $250 million. The report said Global backers participating in the round included SoftBank Group Corp. and the new Abu Dhabi-based tech investment firm MGX, adding that SoftBank poured $500 million into the funding round.

Nvidia put in about $100 million in the funding round, the Wall Street Journal reported. It said that star stock-picker Cathie Wood’s $60 billion-asset Ark Investment Management and Altimeter Capital, a leading technology-focused investment firm, are each putting in about $250 million.

A day after announcement of concluding the funding round, OpenAI said it has secured a $4 billion credit facility with from some of global banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Wells Fargo, SMBC, UBS, and HSBC. “This means we now have access to over $10 billion in liquidity, which gives us the flexibility to invest in new initiatives and operate with full agility as we scale,” OpenAI said in a statement.

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