OpenAI, the artificial intelligence firm behind ChatGPT, has more than doubled its revenue in the first seven months of 2025, reaching an annualized figure of $12 billion. That marks a sharp leap from previous figures and cements OpenAI’s status as one of the fastest-growing private technology companies globally.
The company is currently generating about $1 billion in monthly revenue, according to The Information, which cited a source familiar with the matter.
The firm has been lining up investors for the second $30 billion portion of its funding round, the report said, adding that shareholders Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the round.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026): big discounts for early bird.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab: From Technical Design to Deployment (next edition begins Jan 24 2026).
OpenAI’s Story So Far
Driving OpenAI’s revenue spike is the explosive growth of ChatGPT, its flagship generative AI product. Weekly active users have soared to 700 million, reflecting widespread global adoption across consumer and enterprise segments. This momentum supports the company’s ambitious projection to end 2025 with $12.7 billion in revenue, nearly triple its 2024 earnings. Analysts attribute this anticipated growth to deepening enterprise integration and expanding developer use cases, bolstered by API access and custom GPTs.
Cash Burn Escalates to $8 Billion
However, OpenAI’s financial expansion is mirrored by a steep rise in its spending. The company has raised its projected 2025 cash burn to $8 billion, up from $7 billion earlier in the year. The increased estimate stems from soaring investment in compute infrastructure, research and development, and operational scaling, all of which are essential to maintaining its edge in the intensifying AI arms race.
While the strategy is capital-intensive and carries financial risk, it aligns with broader industry patterns where leading AI firms are prioritizing long-term technological dominance over immediate profit.
A Historic $40 Billion Funding Round
To sustain its expansion and infrastructure push, OpenAI in March closed the largest private tech funding round in history, raising $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation. That makes OpenAI the third most valuable private tech company globally, behind SpaceX ($350 billion) and neck-and-neck with ByteDance.
The massive round is being raised in two stages: a $10 billion tranche led by SoftBank (with $7.5 billion) and other institutional backers; and a second $30 billion portion is still in progress.
As of July, OpenAI had secured $7.5 billion in commitments for the second tranche from investors excluding SoftBank. Among those backing the round are Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management, both of whom are investing hundreds of millions of dollars and have backed OpenAI since its Series E in 2023.
SoftBank: Largest Backer with $32 Billion Commitment
SoftBank has emerged as OpenAI’s largest single investor, committing a total of $32 billion since autumn 2024. Its contribution accounts for 75% of the $40 billion round. However, the full amount is contingent on OpenAI transitioning to a for-profit structure by December 31, 2025. Should the company fail to meet that condition, SoftBank’s total investment could be reduced to $20 billion, introducing a significant funding risk.
Other heavyweight investors include Microsoft, Coatue Management, Thrive Capital, Nvidia, Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund. Microsoft, a core partner since 2019, provides essential cloud infrastructure. Nvidia’s participation reflects the company’s dependency on cutting-edge GPU technology to train and run its models.
Since its founding in 2015, OpenAI has raised $63.92 billion across 11 rounds from 54 investors, including institutional giants like Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan Chase, and angel investor Reid Hoffman.
Infrastructure Push: Stargate, Oracle, and Microsoft
OpenAI’s infrastructure ambitions are encapsulated in the massive “Stargate” project, a $500 billion data center initiative being jointly developed with SoftBank. The goal is to add 10GW of computing power across the United States over the next four years. However, tensions have reportedly emerged between the two over project direction and site selection, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman separately pursuing other data center ventures.
The company is also part of a joint initiative with Oracle and SoftBank, announced in January 2025, to pump $40 billion into AI infrastructure by year-end, beginning with an initial $10 billion investment.
At the same time, OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft—once seen as unshakeable—is reportedly showing signs of strain. Friction has emerged over strategic priorities and control, especially as OpenAI seeks more independence despite Microsoft’s significant investment and infrastructure support.
Corporate Structure and Elon Musk’s Legal Challenge
OpenAI’s hybrid capped-profit model, introduced in 2019, has come under scrutiny as the company inches toward a more commercial posture. Elon Musk, a co-founder, has legally challenged what he views as OpenAI’s betrayal of its nonprofit mission.
To resolve such tensions and unlock SoftBank’s full $30 billion commitment, OpenAI in May proposed a new governance structure: converting its for-profit arm into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), while its nonprofit entity retains control. Regulatory approval from attorneys general in California and Delaware is required by early 2026 for the restructuring to go through.
But Musk’s litigation and regulatory hesitancy could jeopardize the process, leaving billions in potential funding on the table.
Leadership Reshuffle and Viral Growth Metrics
In July, OpenAI made key leadership changes. CEO Sam Altman stepped back from daily operations to focus on long-term research and product innovation, signaling a shift toward deep R&D. The company’s user growth continues to break records, adding 1 million users in just one hour in March 2025. Between February and March, its weekly user base rose from 400 million to 500 million, and now sits at 700 million.
Competitive Landscape and Market Outlook
OpenAI is operating in a crowded and accelerating AI market, facing fierce competition from Google DeepMind, Amazon’s Bedrock, Anthropic’s Claude, and Perplexity. The global generative AI sector is projected to surpass $1 trillion in revenue within the next decade. OpenAI’s aggressive investment in compute infrastructure and continued rollout of advanced models is aimed at dominating this space, but it remains highly dependent on external funding.
While OpenAI’s $12 billion revenue figure is eye-catching, it remains unverified by independent auditors. The company has also declined to provide public comment, raising transparency concerns. Its projected $8 billion cash burn for 2025, set against anticipated revenue of $12.7 billion, implies a razor-thin operational buffer.