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Projected $200 Billion Expenses by 2030
Indeed, the development and training of generative AI are extremely costly, requiring several billion dollars annually. As a result, OpenAI is far from profitable. While the startup’s revenue is expected to double this year, its losses are also set to rise, reaching $5 billion against a revenue of $3.7 billion in 2024, according to the New York Times. Revenues are anticipated to hit $11.6 billion by the year 2025.
This underscores the necessity and urgency of securing funding—a continuous allure for investors. Certainly, it raised $6.6 billion on October 3rd, but its expenses are skyrocketing: they are expected to reach around $200 billion by 2030, with $44 billion during the period from 2023 to 2026.
It’s important to note that 60 to 80% of this amount will be allocated to the training of ChatGPT and various other models the startup is developing or plans to develop. Given the highly competitive nature of the field, it is crucial to maintain increasingly efficient and innovative AI capabilities. Also, OpenAI is projected to achieve its first profits by 2029.
Internal Struggles
However, OpenAI is not alone in facing these challenges. In the past, Meta, through its RealityLabs division focused on metaverse and virtual reality innovations, recorded $50 billion in losses over four years before being able to debut Orion last weekend.
Additionally, there are internal issues starting with a series of high-profile exits from its leadership team (Ilya Sutskever, Gretchen Krueger, and more recently Mira Murati), raising concerns about the future development of ChatGPT. Others point to a toxic management
style by Sam Altman, who now has tighter control following a narrowly avoided ousting last year.