June 16, 2026
Burn rate? More like money bonfire
Leaked OpenAI financials show $38.5B loss and compute burn
OpenAI’s money leak has commenters yelling “scam” while fans swear it’s all part of the plan
TLDR: Leaked financials say OpenAI lost $38.5 billion in 2025 while racing toward a possible stock market debut, raising huge questions about whether its growth can outrun its giant bills. Commenters are brutally divided: some see a future-defining company spending big to win, while others see a spectacular money pit.
OpenAI’s leaked numbers hit the internet like a reality-show finale: $38.5 billion lost in a single year, even while the company reportedly brought in $13 billion in revenue and kept growing at breakneck speed. In plain English, the company behind ChatGPT is making a lot of money, spending even more, and now the crowd is split between “this is terrifying” and “relax, they’re buying the future.” That split is where the real fireworks are.
The loudest reactions were pure outrage. One commenter flatly declared that companies losing this much money shouldn’t be allowed to go public, arguing regular investors would end up “holding the bag.” Another went for maximum drama and called it “the largest scam ever made.” And then there was the line that launched a mini-side quest: how on earth do you spend $5.7 billion on sales and marketing? That number had people doing double takes and mentally picturing the world’s most expensive ad campaign.
But not everyone was grabbing a pitchfork. A few cooler heads argued the leak actually shows a company in hyper-growth mode, not collapse: revenue is rising fast, faster than some major costs, and believers think OpenAI could get close to breaking even if those growth forecasts hold. So the comments turned into a classic internet cage match: bubble or blueprint, scam or strategy, public-markets disaster or temporary cash bonfire? Even the fact-checkers got their moment, dropping Ars Technica and source links like receipts in a group chat.
Key Points
- •Leaked audited financial documents reportedly show OpenAI generated $13.07 billion in revenue in 2025 and posted a $38.53 billion net loss attributable to the company.
- •The article says OpenAI's 2025 operating loss was $20.92 billion, compared with an $8.78 billion operating loss in 2024.
- •A $41.55 billion accounting loss tied to fair-value changes in convertible interests and warrant liability significantly affected the headline net loss.
- •OpenAI said on June 8 that it had confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC, linking the leak to its IPO preparations.
- •The reported 2025 expense mix included $7.5 billion cost of revenue, $19.18 billion R&D, $5.73 billion sales and marketing, and $1.57 billion in general and administrative expenses.