OpenAI posts $38 bn loss in 2025 as market share dips and IPO looms

OpenAI reported a net loss of about $38.5 billion for 2025, of which roughly $30 billion stemmed from a non‑cash accounting charge related to its earlier nonprofit structure. After removing that item, the cash loss was around $8 billion. The company generated $13 billion in revenue in 2025, up from $3.7 billion in 2024, and earned $2 billion in monthly revenue, but the figures remain far short of its $34 billion spend on research, development, cloud services and marketing. More than $17 billion of the expense went to Microsoft for Azure compute power. OpenAI is preparing an initial public offering in the fall, targeting a valuation above $1 trillion and has frozen costly side projects to improve profitability.

In parallel, the State of AI 2026 report shows OpenAI’s flagship ChatGPT slipping below a 50 percent audience share for the first time, holding about 46 percent in May 2026. Competitors Google Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude now capture 28 percent and 10 percent of global usage respectively. Despite the market shift, ChatGPT still reached 1 billion monthly active users on mobile, though churn in the United States rose to 14.5 percent.

These developments come as OpenAI secured $122 billion in financing, valuing the firm at roughly $730 billion, underscoring the high stakes and investor interest surrounding the company’s rapid growth and looming public listing.