February 24, 2026
Trillion Diet, Billion Bites
OpenAI resets spending expectations, from $1.4T to $600B
From trillion dreams to belt-tightening—commenters cry hype
TLDR: OpenAI trimmed its planned infrastructure spend from $1.4 trillion to $600 billion and floated $280 billion revenue by 2030. Commenters roasted the math as hype control, joked about “trillion diets,” and questioned whether this public reset is meant to soothe nervous investors and partners—big stakes for AI’s future.
OpenAI just took its shopping list from a sky-high $1.4 trillion to a still-astronomical $600 billion by 2030—and the internet is serving spicy skepticism. One top comment blasted the move as “pure marketing fluff,” accusing the company of moving goalposts to keep the hype alive. Another wondered if big partners—like the databases giant some say lined up real financing—are now left holding the bill. For context, “compute spend” is basically money for chips and servers, and OpenAI says its revenue could hit $280 billion by 2030. Cue the math police: a viral breakdown pointed out that’s on par with Microsoft and above almost every tech giant, while the company is forecasted at around $20 billion in 2026—aka a 13x leap in under four years.
There were memes, too. One commenter joked they’ve personally “reset” their own budget from $1.4 trillion, and the thread erupted with “trillion diet” quips. Others called this a press-leaked damage control moment to calm spooked investors, especially with reports of a mega funding round (CNBC says Nvidia’s discussing up to $30 billion) and a pre-money valuation near $730 billion. A smaller camp argued that with ChatGPT’s reported 900 million weekly users, massive revenue isn’t totally wild. But the vibe? Drama, doubts, and decimal-point disbelief—with Altman cast as the CFO of vibes and the community asking for receipts CNBC.
Key Points
- •OpenAI is targeting about $600 billion in total compute spending by 2030, down from earlier $1.4 trillion commitments.
- •The company projects more than $280 billion in total revenue for 2030, with near-equal consumer and enterprise contributions.
- •OpenAI is finalizing a funding round exceeding $100 billion, with about 90% from strategic investors.
- •Nvidia is discussing up to a $30 billion investment, in a round that could value OpenAI at a $730 billion pre-money valuation; SoftBank and Amazon are also strategic investors.
- •OpenAI reported $13.1 billion in 2025 revenue and $8 billion in burn; ChatGPT surpassed 900 million weekly active users and Codex reached over 1.5 million weekly active users.