OpenAI expects to burn $278B in cash by 2030

OpenAI is in early discussions with investors about raising a new funding round that could value the maker of ChatGPT at $1.2 trillion to as much as $1.5 trillion, roughly doubling its most recent private valuation and potentially crowning it the world's most valuable privately held company ahead of a planned initial public offering.

Dueling Valuations

The New York Times reported this week that investors initially approached OpenAI with a proposal to invest at a $1.2 trillion valuation, a figure also reported by the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↘ 2.07%. But OpenAI believes it deserves a valuation of at least $1.5 trillion based on increased customer traction with its coding tool Codex and its latest AI models, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-5.6 Sol, according to the Times. CNBC reported that no formal discussions are yet underway.nytimes+3

The company closed a $122 billion funding round in March at an $852 billion valuation, backed by SoftBank, Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↗ 1.00%, Nvidia ↗ 1.34%, and others. OpenAI has raised more than $190 billion since its founding. Its annualized revenue run rate exceeded $40 billion in August, doubling from $20 billion at the end of 2025.clay+2

Massive Cash Burn Ahead

A company presentation reported on Friday by the Financial Times shows OpenAI expects to burn through roughly $278 billion in cash between 2026 and 2030 as it ramps up spending on computing power and infrastructure, according to Reuters. That figure underscores the scale of capital OpenAI will need to sustain its AI ambitions. Earlier this year, the company projected cumulative cash burn of $665 billion through the end of the decade, with positive cash flow not expected until 2030.x+2

Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, has said the company delayed its IPO to focus on AI safety risks, though the public offering had already been shelved for 2026 to shore up its finances. The listing is now projected for next year.wsj+1

AI Infrastructure Boom in Question

Macquarie analysts Paul Golding and Alex Luthringer said the funding discussions reinforce the view that AI demand remains strong despite growing debate about whether the current infrastructure boom can continue at its pace. They pointed to OpenAI's reported $40 billion ARR as evidence of "meaningful reacceleration" in commercial momentum after concerns earlier this year that Anthropic was gaining ground.finance.yahoo

The analysts also see the development as supportive for SoftBank, which has exposure to OpenAI and controls chip designer Arm ↗ 4.04%. "Beyond the direct valuation benefit, we believe this development further validates SoftBank Group's broader AI strategy," Golding said. Still, the risk remains that the valuation assumes continued rapid adoption. Any slowdown in enterprise demand or compute investment would make a trillion-dollar-plus valuation harder to defend.finance.yahoo