OpenAI Faces $280 Billion Cash Burn Through 2030 as Compute Spending Soars

OpenAI is projecting it will burn through nearly $280 billion in cash between 2026 and 2030 as the company pours hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure while racing to scale revenue, according to internal projections reported by the Financial Times. The ChatGPT maker forecasts cumulative spending on computing power and infrastructure will reach approximately $856 billion by the end of the decade, the largest expense category in its financial roadmap. Despite aggressive infrastructure investment, the company expects revenue to expand tenfold to $350 billion annually by 2030, up from $36 billion in 2026.