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 burning through roughly $9 billion this year on $13 billion in sales, a cash burn rate of approximately 70% of revenue.
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.
“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 not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
Altman has defended the massive infrastructure spending as a strategic necessity.
