OpenAI says it plans to report stunning annual losses through 2028—and then turn wildly profitable just two years later | Fortune

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 AI OpenAI OpenAI says it plans to report stunning annual losses through 2028—and then turn wildly profitable just two years later

 By Dave Smith Dave Smith Former Editor, U.S. News Down Arrow Button Icon By Dave Smith Dave Smith Former Editor, U.S. News Down Arrow Button Icon November 12, 2025, 11:18 AM ET Add us on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. Kyle Grillot / Bloomberg—Getty Images OpenAI is plotting a dramatic arc toward profitability through the end of the decade, but that growing won’t come without some pain. The company reportedly expects to rack up massive annual losses each year, including roughly $74 billion in operating losses in 2028 alone, then pivot to meaningful profits by 2030, according to financial documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal .​

 

 The documents, which were shared with investors this summer, reveal an aggressive growth strategy that hinges on massive upfront investment in computing infrastructure, chips and data centers—spending that CEO Sam Altman has described as necessary to meet what he sees as insatiable demand for AI capabilities. The company anticipates total spending of roughly $22 billion this year against $13 billion in sales, resulting in a net loss of $9 billion—meaning OpenAI spends approximately $1.69 for every dollar of revenue it generates.​

 But the financial trajectory only gets steeper before it improves. The documents show OpenAI projects that by 2028, its operating losses will balloon to roughly three-quarters of that year’s revenue, driven primarily by ballooning spending on computing costs. That’s the same year competitor Anthropic expects to break even, according to WSJ .​

 

 The numbers underscore the stark divergence between the two most valuable AI startups. While both companies currently burn cash at similar rates relative to revenue, their paths forward split dramatically. Anthropic forecasts dropping its cash burn to roughly one-third of revenue in 2026 and down to 9% by 2027. OpenAI, by contrast, expects its burn rate to remain at 57% in 2026 and 2027.​

 OpenAI’s plan relies on what amounts to a bet on dominance. The company recently announced it has signed up to $1.4 trillion in commitments over the next eight years for computing deals with cloud and chip giants. It’s spending almost $100 billion on backup data-center capacity alone to cover unforeseen demand from future products and research.​

 “Demand for AI exceeds available compute supply today,” an OpenAI spokesman told WSJ . “Every dollar we invest in AI infrastructure goes to serving the hundreds of millions of consumers, businesses, and developers who rely on ChatGPT to get more done.”​

 OpenAI did no

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