Overview
- A Financial Times presentation reviewed Friday shows OpenAI forecasts about $278 billion of negative free cash flow from 2026 through 2030.
- The company expects roughly $856 billion in computing and infrastructure spending over the same period, making compute its largest cost driver.
- OpenAI models revenue rising from about $36 billion in 2026 to $350 billion in 2030 but still projects spending will outpace cash generation, and its March $122 billion raise could be exhausted by 2028.
- OpenAI has opened private funding talks that have discussed valuations near $1.2 trillion and CEO Sam Altman said the company will not pursue an IPO in 2026, leaving private capital as the immediate source of funding.
- Major hardware and cloud partners such as Nvidia, Oracle and SoftBank‑backed firms have made capacity commitments tied to OpenAI’s demand, so further fundraising and contract fulfilment will strongly affect infrastructure suppliers and market pricing for AI services.