Company Faces Financial Strain Despite $20 Billion in Investments
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed on Sunday that the company is incurring losses on its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription plan, as users are exceeding expected usage levels.
In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, Altman admitted, “I personally chose the price and thought we would make some money.” ChatGPT Pro, launched in late 2023, offers advanced features, including access to the upgraded o1 “reasoning” AI model, a pro mode, and lifted rate limits for tools such as OpenAI’s Sora video generator.
Despite raising approximately $20 billion since its inception, OpenAI remains unprofitable. Reports indicate the company expected losses of around $5 billion on revenue of $3.7 billion in 2024. Contributing factors include high expenditures for staffing, office spaces, and maintaining the AI training infrastructure. At one point, ChatGPT alone was estimated to cost OpenAI $700,000 per day to operate.
Acknowledging the financial challenges, OpenAI recently admitted it needs “more capital than it imagined” and plans a corporate restructuring to attract additional investments. The company is reportedly considering raising prices across its subscription plans to help bridge the gap.
OpenAI projects optimistic long-term growth, forecasting revenues of $100 billion annually by 2029—matching Nestlé’s current yearly sales. However, achieving profitability in the near term remains a challenge for the AI powerhouse.
