OpenAI expects to burn through roughly $278 billion in cash between 2026 and 2030 as spending on computing power and infrastructure continues to rise, according to a company presentation cited by the Financial Times. Reuters reported the figures on September 18. Because OpenAI remains privately held, its internal financial planning is rarely visible to outsiders, making the presentation an unusually detailed window into how the company expects to fund its expansion.

The Financial Times said it reviewed a company presentation detailing OpenAI's financial forecasts through the end of the decade, a document that lays out how the company expects its costs and revenue to evolve as it scales its artificial intelligence business. The projections come as the ChatGPT maker continues to raise large amounts of capital support the development and operation of its AI models.

OpenAI projects $278 billion in negative free cash flow through 2030, with $856B in compute and infrastructure spending, per FT. OpenAI expects revenue to grow from $36B this year to $350B in 2030, totaling roughly $840B through the end of the decade. Its $122B cash raise from… pic.twitter.com/lnXX5kmtik

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Moc obliczeniowa i infrastruktura generują 856 miliardów dolarów wydatków

Computing power and infrastructure are expected to remain OpenAI's largest expense. According to the Financial Times, the company projects that spending in this area will reach about $856 billion by the end of 2030. The forecast underscores the scale of investment required to train and run increasingly capable AI systems.

That spending includes the computing capacity required to train increasingly large AI models, as well as the data center infrastructure and hardware needed to serve users of ChatGPT and other OpenAI products. Notably, the projected compute bill is larger than the roughly $840 billion in total revenue OpenAI expects to collect over the same five-year span, a measure of how far the company's infrastructure outlays are expected to run ahead of its income.

Przychody mają wzrosnąć z 36 miliardów do 350 miliardów dolarów

OpenAI also expects revenue to grow during the same period. The company is forecasting revenue of about $36 billion in 2026, rising to $350 billion annually by 2030 — nearly a tenfold increase over five years. Across the five years through the end of the decade, OpenAI expects to generate around $840 billion in cumulative revenue.

Despite that growth, spending is expected to remain higher than the cash generated by the business, producing the projected negative free cash flow. Free cash flow measures the cash left over after operating expenses and capital expenditures, meaning a negative figure indicates a company is spending more than it takes in.

OpenAI szuka kolejnego finansowania

OpenAI raised about $122 billion in March at a valuation of $852 billion, according to the Financial Times. The company could exhaust that capital by 2028 if spending continues at the projected rate, increasing the need for further financing. The scale of those commitments has made continued access to private capital a central part of the company's expansion plans.

OpenAI has already held discussions with investors about another funding round, according to earlier Financial Times reporting cited by Reuters. Some of those discussions could value the company at about $1.2 trillion, which would place OpenAI's valuation roughly 41% above the level reported in its March fundraising round.

The company also filed confidentially for an initial public offering in June. However, CEO Sam Altman said on Saturday that OpenAI would not go public in 2026, citing concerns related to AI safety. The decision leaves private funding as a key source of capital while OpenAI continues its large infrastructure buildout — which places the outcome of the reported funding discussions at the center of the company's financial outlook. Whether OpenAI confirms a new round near the reported $1.2 trillion valuation, and how its actual spending tracks against the presentation's projections, are the developments most likely to clarify its financial runway as the 2028 capital threshold approaches.

OpenAI had not responded to Reuters' request for comment outside regular business hours when the report was published.

The company's latest internal projections point to $278 billion in negative free cash flow through 2030, while annual revenue is forecast to rise from $36 billion this year to $350 billion by the end of the decade.