Better Offline - Exclusive: OpenAI Spent $34 Billion In 2025, With Losses Up 8X

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Starting point is 00:00:20 AllZone. I'm Ed Zittron. This is better offline. And I've seen Open AIs automated financials for 2025. Play the goddamn music, Matt. Today I can exclusively report based on auditive financial documents viewed by this podcast that have been independently verified by the Financial Times that OpenAI lost around $38.5 billion in 2025.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Growing said losses by nearly 800% year over year, as well as other crucial details about the financial condition of this company. Due to the seriousness of this story, I'm not going to do very much editorializing. I'm going to keep things straight-laced as the numbers speak for themselves and, well, I want to come up with better jokes. But no, seriously, folks, we've got to take this one seriously. I'm serious. I'm also going to somewhat punt on giving every single number here. You can find the companion newsletter in the show notes, which goes into much more detail, but I want to give you the top line and let you know that I intend to do more with this. But I had to get this out when I had to get it out. And there were, by the way, no situations where I was trying to delay this. This went out the second. could. Let's start with 2024. OpenAI had $3.7 billion in revenue, $12.4 billion in costs and expenses,

Starting point is 00:01:49 and a net loss attributable to OpenAI of $5.09 billion. Its cost of revenue was $2.65 billion, and its R&D costs were $7.81 billion. I do not have a breakdown of how these terms are defined. Technically, Open AI was left with an $8.84 billion loss at the end of 2024, but it then marked 3.74 billion of losses as net loss attributable to non-controlling members capital, leaving the net loss attributable to the company, as I mentioned, at $5.09 billion. I won't speculate as to what that means. Now, in 2025, OpenAI had around $38.5 billion in losses attributable to the company. Its revenue was $13.07 billion. Its cost of revenue was $7.5 billion, and its R&D was $19.18.18 billion. dollars. Please note that

Starting point is 00:02:39 2025 was also the year that Open AI converted from a non-profit to a for-profit entity leading to a 41.55 billion dollar loss due to changes in the fair value of convertible interest and warrant liability. In the end Open AI is left with a net loss of $60.35 billion, which it

Starting point is 00:02:55 lowered to $38.53 billion by removing $17.87 billion in costs via that net loss attributable to non-controlling members' capital line and another $3.95 billion via a net loss attributable to redeeming non-controlling interests. It's unclear what these terms mean. They are not defined and I have nothing else to add there. In 2025, $867 million of OpenAI's

Starting point is 00:03:21 revenue was from SoftBank and $303 million was from Microsoft. I intend to follow up this story in the next month with more in-depth reporting related to the documents. They're detailed and I need time to fully pass them. Once I've done so, you'll know. I will say that the financial condition of open AI is deeply concerning. $38.5 billion in losses are around there, are astronomical, and are far higher than most believed it would be, and indeed are very different to those that have been previously reported. Losses also appear to be mounting year over year at a dramatic rate,

Starting point is 00:03:55 and I'm not sure how this company finds a way toward any kind of sustainability or profitability. I have, as mentioned, save the editorializing today. I'm not going to do it. I need more time. I believe the best thing I can do for the general public is to deliver this news as plenty as possible. More to come. Zitron out. Joy is essential and it's also elusive, but now there's a new and exciting way to start your

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Starting point is 00:04:57 your peer review with our new stuff you should know doing science playlist. Out now. You want to know about Occam's Razor? Simplest explanation is usually the right one? We got you covered. Wondered what chaos theory is ever since the first time you saw Jurassic Park. Well, come on down. So distill a nice pot of tea, everybody, turn down the gas on your Bunsen burner and slip into your most comfortable lab coat and listen to the stuff you should know doing science playlist on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here's something that should not be as complicated as it is, getting a racist statue removed. And here's something that should be a whole lot easier than it is, getting a new one put up in its

Starting point is 00:05:37 place. I'm Akila Hughes, and Rebel Spirit season two is about both of those things. As I was watching these statues come down, I was thinking about what it meant that I grew up in a majority black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslave people. Listen to Rebel Spirit season two on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. June is Black Music Month, and on the Drink Champs podcast, we're speaking with the hottest names in the culture, like Sway Lee. Do you realize how legendary you are? I appreciate that. I'd be seeing it, but I'm like, man, I still got like so much more to do. Like Prince, he's dropped like 30. albums. We job like five right now.

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Better Offline - Exclusive: OpenAI Spent $34 Billion In 2025, With Losses Up 8X

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