OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, reportedly doubled its annualized revenue to US$12 billion in the first seven months of 2024.

This suggests OpenAI is generating about US$1 billion in monthly revenue.

The company reportedly has around 700 million weekly active users for its ChatGPT products used by both consumers and business customers.

OpenAI’s projected cash burn for 2025 has risen to about US$8 billion, up US$1 billion from earlier forecasts.

Investors, excluding SoftBank, are close to finalizing US$7.5 billion in commitments to the second part of OpenAI’s US$30 billion funding round.

Shareholders Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management are reportedly investing hundreds of millions of dollars.

OpenAI declined to comment.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ OpenAI’s revenue growth massively outpaced its own projections

OpenAI’s revenue trajectory shows how rapidly AI adoption can accelerate beyond even optimistic internal forecasts.

In December 2022, the company projected reaching just $1 billion in revenue by 20241. Yet by July 2024, OpenAI had already achieved $12 billion in annualized revenue—a 12x outperformance of its own projections made less than two years earlier.

This dramatic acceleration reflects the explosive user adoption that followed ChatGPT’s launch, with the platform gaining 700 million weekly active users and generating $1 billion monthly.

2️⃣ Massive revenue growth coexists with equally massive losses in AI scaling

OpenAI’s financial profile reveals the capital-intensive reality of scaling cutting-edge AI systems, where revenue growth doesn’t immediately translate to profitability.

Despite reaching $12 billion in annualized revenue, the company lost $5 billion in 2024 and projects $8 billion in cash burn for 202523. These losses stem from extraordinary operational costs, including $3 million daily just to run ChatGPT2.

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