Leaked audited financial statements show OpenAI generated $13.07 billion in revenue but suffered a $21 billion net loss in 2025 [1, 4].
These figures highlight the immense capital requirements of scaling large language models. While the company is growing its top line rapidly, the cost of compute and infrastructure continues to outpace its income.
The documents were obtained and published by an independent journalist earlier this week [2, 3]. The leak provides a rare glimpse into the internal economics of the San Francisco-based company [1].
According to the audited data, OpenAI's revenue for 2025 reached $13.07 billion [4]. This represents a significant increase from the $3.7 billion in revenue reported for 2024 [4]. Despite this growth, the company's net loss for the 2025 fiscal year climbed to $21 billion [4].
The gap between revenue and expenditure underscores the financial pressure on AI developers. High operational costs, primarily driven by the energy and hardware needed to train and run models, remain a primary hurdle for the industry.
OpenAI has not issued a formal statement regarding the leaked documents. The reports follow a period of rapid expansion and product launches that have positioned the company as a leader in the generative AI sector [1, 2].
“OpenAI generated $13.07 billion in revenue but suffered a $21 billion net loss in 2025”
The disparity between OpenAI's revenue growth and its net losses suggests that the current business model for frontier AI relies heavily on external funding rather than immediate profitability. While the jump from $3.7 billion to $13.07 billion in annual revenue indicates strong market adoption, the $21 billion loss confirms that the 'burn rate' for state-of-the-art AI development remains exceptionally high.
