OpenAI burned $3.7B in Q1 2026, over half its revenue

OpenAI spent $3.7 billion during the first three months of 2026, more than half of its $5.7 billion in revenue for the period, according to documents the company shared with shareholders, The Information reported on Tuesday.reuters.com+2

The figures underscore the scale of cash consumption at the ChatGPT maker even as its top line grows at a rapid clip. Reuters reported it could not immediately verify the figures.Channel NewsAsia

Revenue Growth Amid Mounting Costs

OpenAI's $5.7 billion in first-quarter revenue, first reported by The Information in May, was driven by rising demand for enterprise AI tools, developer APIs, and coding products like Codex. The company is now generating roughly $2 billion in monthly revenue and targeting $30 billion for the full year.The Tech Portal+2

Yet the spending disclosed Tuesday suggests the company's path to profitability remains distant. One analysis of OpenAI's Q1 financials indicated an adjusted operating margin of negative 122 percent — meaning the company lost $1.22 for every dollar earned after excluding stock-based compensation.OpenAI spent $1.22 for every $1 in Q1 2026

A Pattern of Escalating Losses

The Q1 burn rate is consistent with a broader pattern. Audited financials published by the newsletter "Where's Your Ed At" and independently verified by the Financial Times showed OpenAI lost $38.5 billion in 2025, up from $5.09 billion in 2024, on revenue of $13.07 billion. The company paid Microsoft ↗ 1.62% $17.2 billion in 2025 alone, mostly for computing infrastructure used to train its models.wheresyoured

OpenAI has projected $25 billion in total cash burn for 2026 and filed a confidential S-1 with securities regulators on June 8, signaling plans for an initial public offering at a valuation estimated between $730 billion and $1 trillion.Atooli+1

The Competitive Pressure

The spending comes as OpenAI faces intensifying competition. Anthropic generated $4.8 billion in Q1 revenue and projected its second-quarter revenue would double to $11 billion. OpenAI also missed internal user growth targets earlier this year, with ChatGPT's weekly active users averaging 905 million — short of a goal to reach one billion by the end of 2025.CHOSUNBIZ+2

OpenAI raised $122 billion in the first quarter of 2026 as part of a record-breaking funding environment for AI companies, giving it a cash cushion to sustain its current trajectory — at least for now.The New York Times