OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research lab renowned for their cutting-edge technological advances, is reaping big bucks in 2024. They’ve got equally exciting things in the pipeline for the first few months of 2025. In its most recent Q3 2024 disclosure, the company reported receiving $493.8 million in calendar-year-to-date revenue share payment from Microsoft. This colorful figure captures the dynamic energy of this powerful partnership. OpenAI has agreed to share 20% of its revenue with Microsoft under terms of prior deal. The deal follows Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in the AI company.
In 2024, OpenAI’s revenue was already estimated to exceed $2.5 billion, with some reports citing up to $4 billion. This growth trajectory skyrocketed all the way through 2025. Its first three quarters alone would yield a jaw dropping minimum revenue of $4.33 billion. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, recently disclosed that the company’s revenue has already far exceeded the $13 billion annual figure that has been reported to date. He suggested that the future annualized revenue run rate might be over $20 billion.
For all of OpenAI’s impressive revenue growth, it’s grappling with enormous expenses. Later, in 2024, the company will spend about $3.8 billion on inference. That figure exploded to approximately $8.65 billion in just the first nine months of 2025. This booming demand for AI services is what fuels this spending spike. Companies are incurring greater operational costs to keep their massive, heavy-footprint data centers running.
The fiscal responsibilities that OpenAI is assuming are intimidating, including $1.4 trillion in pledges for data center infrastructure alone. The company’s plans for scaling its operations are lofty, to say the least. Those investments will transform it—and its ability to compete in the fiercely competitive AI landscape. Even with these massive outlays, if current trends hold OpenAI’s revenue is expected to soar to a staggering $100 billion by 2027.
OpenAI’s high cash burn rate has recently been the focus of concern as well. In just the first half of 2025, the company expects a cash burn of $2.5 billion, with net income hitting a full-year positive in 2026. This rapid increase in spending is indicative of the high stakes involved in developing and deploying advanced AI technologies and services.
Yet the partnership with Microsoft, still the main funder of OpenAI, continues to be at the center of OpenAI’s strategy. Their financial arrangement creates an important new revenue source. Beyond that though, it showcases the collaborative spirit of their relationship, which has been vital to the success of both entities. Through this collaboration, OpenAI’s technology now powers a number of Microsoft products, weaving AI into the fabric of daily applications.
On the back of this remarkable financial success and lucrative strategic partnerships, OpenAI is rumored to be preparing for a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO). Speculation abounds as to whether its valuation will exceed a historic $1 trillion. This would be a big, historic deal—from any kind of technology company, let alone in the AI space.